Green derivatization strategy coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS) for patulin monitoring in fruit products

Mycotoxin monitoring is critical to ensure that foods are safe for human and animal consumption, so highly sensitive and selective detection methods are required by regulatory agencies. In this work, a new method for the analysis of patulin in fruit products was developed based on the high reactivity of the mycotoxin with sodium benzene-1,2-bis(thiolate). This previously unknown reaction occurs in buffered aqueous solution and results in a stable adduct that can be sensitively determined by tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The proposed method is performed by a simple dilute-and-shoot procedure without the use of organic solvents and was able to determine patulin with an instrumental detection limit of 0.5 mu g L-1. When the method was applied to the analysis of fortified apple and pear products, recovery values ranged from 95 to 100%. Finally, the applicability under real conditions was demonstrated by the successful analysis of reference and quality control materials.