Simultaneous determination of four Alternaria toxins in apple juice concentrate by ultra performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

An ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of altenuene (ALT), alternariol (AOH), tentoxin and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) in apple juice concentrate (AJC). The sample was diluted with water, and then cleaned up with a PS DVB column. The quantification was carried out using an external standard method. The UPLC was performed on a BEH C18 column (50 mm x 2.1 mm, 1.7 mu m) using a gradient elution of acetonitrile and water. The MS/MS was performed with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The limits of quantification of the four Alternaria toxins were between 1.0 and 5.0 mu g/L. The recoveries were 77.8% - 117.2% with the relative standard deviations less than 9.7%. The method is sensitive, stable and reliable. It's suitable for the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the four Alternaria toxins in AJC.