Determination of Deoxynivalenol in Shredded Wheat Cereal Using Automated Solid Phase Extraction with Immunoaffinity Cartridges

Deoxynivalenol is a common mycotoxin found in agricultural grain crops and final consumer processed products. Most impacted are wheat, barley, and corn. Deoxynivalenol, also known as Vomitoxin, has the ability to withstand high processing temperatures, creating the need for rapid and accurate determination methodology. Currently, the United States has an advisory limit for deoxynivanol of 1 ppm (or 1000 µg/kg) in finished foodstuffs. Current European Union (EU) legislation sets the maximum level of deoxynivalenol in foodstuffs at 0.75 ppm (750 µg/kg) for unprocessed cereals marketed for direct consumer consumption and 0.2 ppm (200 µg/kg) for processed cereal-based foods and foods intended for babies and small children.

The standard AOAC methodology uses liquid-liquid extraction, followed by solid phase extraction with immunoaffinity cartridges. In this application, a sample of shredded wheat cereal was tested for the presence of deoxynivalenol and spiked at the EU legislation level of 200 µg/kg for recovery. Simple automation of the SPE process using the VICAM® DONtest WB immunoaffinity cartridges was implemented using the Horizon Technology SmartPrep® Extractor, followed by evaporation with the XcelVap® and analysis using a Shimadzu Nexera XR UHPLC with UV detection at 220 nm.

Figure 1: Shredded wheat cereal control spiked at 200 µg/kg. Some native concentration was observed in the unspiked cereal.

Conclusions

Data presented concludes that deoxynivalenol was effectively recovered and passed performance criteria for % recovery at the EU limits of 200 µg/kg. Implementing automation with the SmartPrep Extractor also reduces "scientist bias" by implementing uniform treatment of all samples. Limiting manual preparation for routine laboratory food safety testing will significantly increase and improve laboratory workflow and determine deoxynivalenol levels more consistently in processed foods and animal feed.

References

"Determination of Deoxynivalenol in Shredded Wheat Cereal using Automated Solid Phase Extraction with Immunoaffinity Cartridges," Toni Hofhine, Horizon Technology, Inc., Elizabeth K. Krantz, Dr. Pamela Doolittle, and Dr. Cheri Barta, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Application Note AN891407_01, available at www.horizontechinc.com.

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