Identification and determination of fumonisin FB1 and FB2 in corn and corn products by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray-ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS-MS)

Summary A new method has been developed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of fumonisin FB₁ and FB₂ in corn and corn products. After extractive sample preparation followed by solid phase extraction using a strong anionexchanger, highest selectivity and sensitivity was achieved by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray-ionization, tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS-MS) analysis combined with selected reaction monitoring (SRM). With deuterated fumonisin FB₁-d₆ as internal standard the routine quantitation limit for FB₁ was set at 400 pg (0.8 ng g^–1 sample) with a signal-to-noise ratio of 101. Almost all corn grit and corn meal samples under study were found to be contaminated with fumonisin FB₁ and FB₂ in concentrations ranging from 1 to 200 ng g^–1. Lower fumonisin levels were found in cornflakes, popcorn and baby food, while no fumonisins were detected in canned sweet corn.