Determination of six alternaria toxins in prepared dishes using MIL-101(Fe)-based dispersive solid-phase extraction coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Prepared dishes, one of the prominent modern foods, carry the risk of alternaria toxins (ATs) contamination. To address this concern, an efficient dispersed solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) method based on MIL-101(Fe) coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the analysis of six ATs in prepared dishes. Characterization results confirmed that the synthesized MIL-101(Fe) possesses a high specific surface area and appropriate pore sizes distribution. Furthermore, computational simulations revealed that ATs could be efficiently absorbed and purified by MIL-101(Fe) via hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, and Lewis acid-base interactions. Under optimized conditions, the method exhibited excellent linearity (R 2  ≥ 0.9990), and the limit of quantifications (LOQs) ranging from 0.07 to 0.37 μg/L, with recoveries in the range of 76.2%-108.3% and relative standard deviations (RSDs) below 9.8%. this study aims to bridge this gap by utilizing UHPLC-MS/MS to develop a robust method for the high-sensitivity and high-accuracy quantification of ATs in prepared dishes. Furthermore, the adsorption mechanism of MIL-101(Fe) for target toxins was elucidated by grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation.