Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Safety issues pertaining to mycotoxin contamination of the edible and medicinal products (EMPs) have attracted significant attention. EMPs not only have high nutritional values, but also exert valuable medicinal properties. Innumerable EMPs have been found to be contaminated by the multi-class mycotoxins, comprising both the parent and modified mycotoxins. Regular analysis can frequently overlook the modified forms, causing the mycotoxin contamination to be underestimated. To guarantee the safety of EMPs, it is crucial to establish a systematic and efficient analysis strategy enabling the extensive detection of mycotoxins. OBJECTIVES: A strategy was designed for the screening, identification, and detection of mycotoxins in EMPs. METHODS: Based on an in-house library containing 781 compounds, targeted/untargeted screening of the mycotoxins was achieved by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) of tandem mass spectrometry and data-dependent acquisition with a preferred precursor ions list of the Orbitrap Exploris mass spectrometry, coupled with the liquid chromatography separation. A fully validated scheduled MRM approach could enable the accurate determination of 15 mycotoxins. The fungal community and potential toxigenic fungi were analyzed via high-throughput sequencing. RESULTS: Co-occurrence of mycotoxins was observed in 105 batches of EMPs samples. Aflatoxins B(1) and B(2) regulated in Chinese pharmacopoeia (2020 edition), and those unregulated ones involving beauvericin, fumonisin B(2), and two fungal metabolites (citreorosein and endocrocin) in the in-house cultured Ziziphi Spinosae Semen, got identified. In particular, the content of aflatoxin B(1) reached 658.76 µg/kg in a real Ziziphi Spinosae Semen sample. CONCLUSIONS: These findings can provide an early warning for mycotoxins contamination of EMPs, and unveil that the edible and medicinal plant seeds and fruits are susceptible to fungi and mycotoxins contamination. The proposed strategy, with the merits of simple pretreatment, universal screening, and accurate determination, is a potent approach for large-scale detection of mycotoxins.