Rapid Determination of Fumonisins in Corn-Based Products by Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A simple, fast, and robust method was developed for the determination of fumonisin B1 (FB1), fumonisin B2 (FB2), and fumonisin B3 (FB3) in corn-based human food and animal feed (cornmeal). The method involves a single extraction step followed by centrifugation and filtration before analysis by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization (UPLC/ESI)-MS/MS. The LC/MS/MS method developed here represents the fastest and simplest procedure (<30 min) among both conventional HPLC methods and other LC/MS methods using SPE cleanup. The potential for high throughput analysis makes the method particularly beneficial for regulatory agencies and analytical laboratories with a high sample volume. A single-laboratory validation was conducted by testing three different spiking levels (200, 500, and 1000 ng/g for FB1 and FB2; 100, 250, and 500 ng/g for FB3) for accuracy and precision. Recoveries of FB1 ranged from 93 to 98% with RSD values of 3-8%. Recoveries of FB2 ranged from 104 to 108, with RSD values of 2-6%. Recoveries of FB3 ranged from 94% to 108%, with RSD values of 2-5%.