Comparative Study on the Distribution of Mycotoxins Contamination in 25 Kinds of Common Herbal Decoction Pieces

OBJECTIVE To establish a method for the simultaneous determination of 10 kinds of mycotoxins in herbal decoction pieces by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and to compare the distribution of mycotoxins contamination in 25 batches of herbal decoction piece. METHODS The samples were treated by ultrasonic treatment with 70% methanol, purified by HLB column, and separated by Waters ACQUITY UPLC^® BEH C₁₈(2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.7 μm). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-methanol(1:1) and 0.01% formic acid solution gradient elution. Multiple response monitoring in ESI ion source positive ion mode and quantitative by external standard method. RESULTS The linear ranges of the 10 mycotoxins were 0.31-250 ng·mL^-1 with correlation coefficients greater than 0.991. The average recoveries were 83.60%-131.80%, the RSD were 2.35%-7.85%, and the detection limits of the 10 mycotoxins were 0.14-16.30 ng·kg^-1. Among 25 batches of herbal decoction pieces, fumonisin B2 had the highest detection rate(28%), followed by deoxynivalenol(20%), and four mycotoxins such as aflatoxin B2 and so on were not detected. Mycotoxin contamination rate of fruit and seed was the most serious(66.7%), and that of animal medicinal materials was the lowest(20%). CONCLUSION This method can be used for the detection of 10 mycotoxins in herbal decoction pieces. In addition to aflatoxin, the monitoring of other mycotoxins in herbal decoction pieces should be strengthened, especially the monitoring of mycotoxins in fruits and seeds.