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Highlights: [•] Toxigenic fungi were recovered in functional foods and spices. [•] Contamination levels of mycotoxins were determined by HPLC-FLD. [•] Aspergillus and Penicillium were the predominant fungi. [•] Some samples were found to be positive with mycotoxins, especially AFB1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new solid-phase extraction (SPE) pretreatment method using a home-made polyvinylpolypyrrolidone-florisil (PVPP-F) column was developed for the analysis of patulin in apple and hawthorn products in China. Fifty samples (25 apple juices, 12 apple jams, and 13 hawthorn juices) were prepared using the new method and then analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) on an Agela Venusil MP C(18) reversed-phase column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm). The cleanup results for all samples using home-made PVPP-F column were compared with those obtained using a MycoSep®228 AflaPat column. The correlation coefficient R (0.9998) fulfilled the requirement of linearity for patulin in the concentration range of 2.5-250 μg/kg. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) of patulin were 3.99 and 9.64 μg/kg for PVPP-F column, and 3.56 and 8.07 μg/kg for MycoSep®228 AflaPat column, respectively. Samples were spiked with patulin at levels ranging from 25 to 250 μg/kg, and recoveries using PVPP-F and MycoSep®228 AflaPat columns were in the range of 81.9-100.9% and 86.4-103.9%, respectively. Naturally occurring patulin was found in 2 of 25 apple juice samples (8.0%) and 1 of 13 hawthorn juice samples (7.7%) at concentrations ranging from 12.26 to 36.81 μg/kg. The positive results were further confirmed by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS)., (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A HPLC-FLD method has been developed and validated for zearalenone (ZON) in 107 widely consumed Chinese medicinal herbs and related products collected from different regions of China. Samples were extracted with methanol/water (80 : 20, v/v), and the extracts were cleaned-up through immunoaffinity columns (IAC). ZON was quantified by HPLC with fluorescence detection. Recoveries from three different medicinal herbs spiked with ZON at levels ranging from 30 to 600 µg kg(-1) were from 80.8 to 98.3%. The limit of detection was 9.5 µg kg(-1), based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 : 1. Naturally occurring ZON was only found in coix seed medicinal herb (all nine samples), with levels ranging from 18.7 to 211.4 µg kg(-1). Positive results were confirmed by UV spectrum and LC-ESI-MS/MS. This is the first report of ZON contamination of a Chinese medicinal herb.