Simultaneous Rapid Determination of Seven Alternaria Toxins in Tuberous Crops during Storage Using QuEChERS Coupled with Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Robust and sensitive ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) combined with the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method was applied for the detection of seven Alternaria toxins (ATs) in tuberous crops. The influence of tuber conditions (fresh, germinated, and moldy) during storage on the concentration of the seven ATs is also investigated. ATs were extracted with acetonitrile under acidic conditions and purified with a C(18) adsorbent. ATs were scanned with electrospray ionization (positive/negative ion) dynamic switching and detected in MRM mode. Calibration curve analysis results reveal good linear relationships in all toxin concentration ranges (R(2) > 0.99). The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 0.25–0.70 and 0.83–2.31 μg/kg, respectively. The average recoveries of the seven ATs were 83.2–104% with intra-/inter-day precision at 3.52–6.55% and 4.02–7.26%, respectively. The developed method provided adequate selectivity, sensitivity, and precision in detecting the seven ATs at trace levels, and dispensed with standard addition or matrix-matched calibration to compensate for matrix effects. ATs in the fresh, germinated, and moldy samples of tuberous crops in storage (taro, potato, sweet potato, yam, cassava) were analyzed with this method, and the concentrations were 2.01–14.51 μg/kg and significantly increased with storage duration. ALS was detected in most samples, whereas no quantities of ALT and ATX-I were detected. AME was often detected in combination with AOH in sweet potatoes. TeA and Ten were mostly detected in taro, potato, and yam. The established method could be used for the simultaneous detection and quantification of multicomponent toxins in elaborate matrices.