Determination of trichothecenes in cereals by gas chromatography with ion trap detection

Summary A method for determination of the trichothecene toxins, deoxynivalenol, 3α-acetyl-deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol in cereals (wheat, barley, oats, corn) is described. Extraction was performed according to Tanaka et al. (J. Chromatogr.328, 271 (1985)) [33], derivatization by trifluoroacylation with trifluoroacetic acid anhydride. For quantitation and confirmation a capillary gas chromatograph combined with a selective mass detector (ion trap) working in CI-mode with methanol as reagent gas was used. The quantitation limit for the complete method is 1–5 μg/kg, depending on the chemical characteristics of each toxin and cleanness of the extracts. Recoverics from spiked cereals were 78–89%.