Novel magnetic nanoparticle-assisted QuEChERS-UHPLC-MS/MS for the determination of multi-mycotoxins in complex sample matrices

To overcome the great challenge of simultaneously reducing the matrix effect and sensitively analyzing multi-mycotoxins in complex samples, a modified QuEChERS-UHPLC-MS/MS method based on novel nanomaterials was developed for the analysis of 18 mycotoxins in different matrices. The modified QuEChERS integrated traditional QuEChERS with freezing and magnetic dispersion solid phase extraction (MDSPE), which adopted an in-house fabricated nanomaterial (Fe 3 O 4 @MWCNT@Uio-67) as a purification material. To validate the sensitive and efficient analysis of the target mycotoxins, the established method was investigated on three medicinal and edible matrices. These matrices are typical representatives of complex and diverse matrices, of which the main ingredients are starch, oil, and polysaccharides, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the linear detection range was 1.00–1250.00 μg/kg (R 2  > 0.998). The detection limits were down to 0.003–5.096 μg/kg. The accuracy (spiked recovery/66.38–139.17%) and precision (intra-RSDs/0.15–19.65%, inter-RSDs/0.23–16.40%) were both satisfactory. Compared to C 18 , the novel material presented a better ability to purify the substrate matrices, along with a more acceptable recovery. Through the comparison with other methods, the developed method was further demonstrated to be sensitive, efficient, and with great potential for the analysis of multi-mycotoxins in diverse and complex samples.