Screening of a Combinatorial Library of Organic Polymers for the Solid-Phase Extraction of Patulin from Apple Juice

An Overview of Biosensors for the Detection of Patulin Focusing on Aptamer-Based Strategies

Patulin is a low molecular weight mycotoxin and poses a global problem, especially threatening food safety. It is also resistant to processing temperatures and is commonly found in fruits and vegetables. Studies have shown that it has toxic effects on animals and humans and the severity of patulin toxicity depends on the amount ingested. Therefore, the consumption of contaminated products, especially in infants and children, is important. The maximum daily intake of PAT that can be tolerated is found to be 0.4 µg/kg body weight to prevent chronic effects and the maximum residue limits in food samples were given as 50 ng/g (∼320 nM). Conventional methods for the detection of PAT have many disadvantages such as the use of expensive equipment, the need for trained personnel, and complicated sample preparation steps. To this extent, various numbers of research have been conducted on selective and sensitive detection of patulin using biosensor platforms in various media. This review presents an overview of the current literature dealing with the studies to develop patulin-specific aptamer-based biosensors and adapts various immobilization methods to increase the sensor response using different nanomaterials. Furthermore, a comparison of biosensors with conventional methods is presented using analytical performance parameters and their practicality for the detection of patulin.

Determination of patulin in apple juice by amine-functionalized solid-phase extraction coupled with isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

BACKGROUND

Patulin is a mycotoxin that mainly contaminates apple juice, which is a typical high sugar matrix. Many different adsorbents have been utilized to develop a sample pretreatment method to minimize the matrix interference from apple juice.

RESULTS

A simple and reliable extraction method for the determination of patulin in apple juice has been developed. The sample preparation involves a simple one-step cleanup procedure using amine-functionalized polymeric solid-phase extraction cartridges (Retain AX) that effectively remove interferences and facilitate the quantification. Isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (ID-LC-MS/MS) was employed to minimize the matrix effect and ensure reliable results. The limit of detection was as low as 0.2 μg kg^-1 , which was satisfactory with regard to current European, US, and Chinese legislation. Matrix-matched linearity (r² = 0.9997) was established in the range of 1-400 μg kg^-1 . Recovery was performed in samples spiked at three levels, and results were between 97.2% and 100.2%.

CONCLUSION

The results indicated that, with one-step cleanup, the matrix effect was negligible and sensitivity was satisfactory. Our work provided a simple and reliable method for patulin detection in apple juice and is also very promising in routine quality control. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Developments in mycotoxin analysis: an update for 2016-2017

This review summarises developments in the determination of mycotoxins over a period between mid-2016 and mid-2017. Analytical methods to determine aflatoxins, Alternaria toxins, ergot alkaloids, fumonisins, ochratoxins, patulin, trichothecenes and zearalenone are covered in individual sections. Advances in proper sampling strategies are discussed in a dedicated section, as are methods used to analyse botanicals and spices and newly developed LC-MS based multi-mycotoxin methods. This critical review aims to briefly discuss the most important recent developments and trends in mycotoxin determination as well as to address limitations of the presented methodologies.