Determination of ochratoxin A at parts-per-trillion levels in cereal products by immunoaffinity column cleanup and high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic and potentially carcinogenic fungal toxin found in a variety of food commodities. A new sensitive method has been developed to quantify OTA in cereal products by reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC) with mass spectrometric (MS) detection. Ochratoxin B was used as the internal standard. OTA was extracted from cereal products with acetonitrile-water, and the extract was diluted with a buffer; the diluted extract was cleaned up on an immunoaffinity column before LC/MS analysis. Two multiple-reaction monitoring transitions were used, one for quantification of OTA and one for confirmation of identity. The method was shown to be highly sensitive, with a low decision limit (CCalpha) of 0.012 microg/kg and a detection capability (CCbeta) of 0.021 microg/kg. Within-laboratory repeatability coefficient of variation values were 7.1, 3.7, and 3.1%, and the corresponding recoveries were 104, 106, and 103% for rice samples fortified with OTA at 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15 microg/kg, respectively. Method validation was performed according to the criteria of European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. All criteria as presented in the Commission Decision were fulfilled. This method is the first fully validated method using immunoaffinity chromatography for cleanup and MS for detection in the analysis of cereals for OTA. The method was also successfully applied to cereal-derived products. The analytical results for determination of the OTA content of cereal products commercially available in Hong Kong are also reported.