ANALYSIS OF TRICHOTHECENE MYCOTOXINS BY G AS-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY WITH ELECTRIC PRESSURE CONTROL SPLITLESS INJECTION

A simple gas chromatography/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) method for simu ltaneous analysis of 9 kinds of trichothecene mycotoxins was developed . Mycotoxins were extracted from com and wheat with acetone acidified with sulfuric acid. After concentration to 10 ml under reduced pressur e, the extract was passed through a C18 cartridge, and the elute was c oncentrated to dryness under nitrogen gas, followed by derivatization with commercial TMS reagent (trimethylsilylimidazole: trimethylsilyl c hloride: bistrimethylsilyl acetamide). The derivatives were further pu rified by Florisil cartridge chromatography. Trichothecene mycotoxins were confirmed and determined by GC/MS. The use of EPC made it possibl e to inject a large quantity of sample solution into the GC, allowing sensitive analysis of trichothecenes; the detection limits were 0.004 to 0.04 ppm. Recoveries of trichothecenes in corn and wheat were 56.3 to 91.4%.