To demonstrate the productivity, robustness, and accuracy of the Thermo Scientific™ Orbitrap Exploris™ 120 mass spectrometer coupled with ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) for the identification and quantitation of mycotoxins in a highly complex matrix. Read more
Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi that can grow on food products and crops¹. These toxins account for the worldwide annual loss of millions of dollars in human health, animal health, and condemned agricultural products². Many regulatory agencies have set up guidelines for the maximum tolerance levels for mycotoxins in products intended for use as animal feed (Table 1). Animal producers often test their feed to determine the level of mycotoxin contamination. This information is then used to determine how much to dilute the feed to safely feed their production animals.
Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has become a powerful tool for simultaneous analysis of mycotoxins due to their co-occurrence and complexity in feed. Thermo Scientific™ Orbitrap™ high-resolution accurate-mass (HRAM) technology provides excellent full-scan quantitation of target compounds. In addition, MS/MS confirmation is possible using a highly curated, comprehensive compound database and spectral library matching. In this application, we evaluated three different HRAM full-scan workflows to measure 15 mycotoxins in corn-based feed. The Orbitrap Exploris 120 mass spectrometer is designed to deliver consistently accurate data and enhanced analytical productivity for labs performing environmental and food safety analyses.