Multianalysis of 35 mycotoxins in traditional Chinese medicines by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry coupled with accelerated solvent extraction.

A generic procedure, which involved accelerated solvent extraction and homemade cleanup cartridges, has been developed for the extraction and purification of 35 mycotoxins in various traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) matrixes, i.e., rhizomes and roots, seeds, flowers, and grasses and leaves, for subsequent analysis by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). All target analytes could be simultaneously quantitated in less than 17 min per run, showing narrow symmetrical peaks. The developed method was also successfully applied in routine monitoring programs, which implied a significant reduction of both effort and time, to investigate the contamination of TCMs. Among 60 commercial TCMs analyzed, 50 were positive. The achieved data underpin the practical application of the UHPLC-MS/MS method as a valuable tool for the trace analysis of multiple mycotoxins in TCMs.