Determination of fumonisin B1 in bovine milk by LC–MS/MS

The aim of the present work was to develop a sensitive and selective method for identification and quantification of fumonisin B1 (FB1) in bovine milk. FB1 was isolated by immunoaffinity column and was detected using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry in positive electrospray ionization (ESI+). The LOQ of the method was 0.1 μg/kg that was lower than the others reported in the literature. The high coefficient of determination (R2 > 0.99) obtained in the range of 0.1–10.0 μg/kg, the good recovery (84%) and relative standard deviation (7%) of the proposed method ensure correct fumonisin detection in milk even at relatively low concentrations. The developed method was applied on different commercial samples in order to test its efficacy. FB1 was found above the LOQ in eight out of 10 samples analysed and the average level of contamination found was 0.26 μg/kg.