<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_jvetres-2018-0027_s_005_w2aab3b7c10b1b6b1aab1c16b1Aa"><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are probably the most widespread toxins of natural origin. More than 6,000 plant species produce these toxic compounds. Bees can forage on flowers of plants producing PAs, which leads to contamination of honey with the toxic compounds. To determine the contamination of honey with PAs, a sensitive method based on liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry has been developed.</p></sec><sec id="j_jvetres-2018-0027_s_006_w2aab3b7c10b1b6b1aab1c16b2Aa"><h3>Material and Methods</h3><p>PAs were extracted with 0.05 M sulphuric acid and purified with MCX cartridges. A solvent mixture consisting of ethyl acetate, methanol, acetonitrile, ammonia, and triethylamine (8:1:1:0.1:0.1, v/v) was used to wash alkaloids from the cartridges. After evaporation the residues were reconstituted in water and methanol mixture and subjected to LC–MS analysis.</p></sec><sec id="j_jvetres-2018-0027_s_007_w2aab3b7c10b1b6b1aab1c16b3Aa"><h3>Results</h3><p>The developed method was validated according to SANTE/11945/2015 requirements. The recovery was from 80.6% to 114.5%. The repeatability ranged from 2.3% to 14.6%, and the reproducibility was from 4.9% to 17.7%.</p></sec><sec id="j_jvetres-2018-0027_s_008_w2aab3b7c10b1b6b1aab1c16b4Aa"><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>A new method for the determination of PAs in honey has been developed and validated. All evaluated parameters were in accordance with the SANTE/11945/2015 guidance document. Out of 50 analysed honey samples, 16 (32%) were positive for the content of at least one PA.</p></sec></abstract>

IntroductionPyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are probably the most widespread toxins of natural origin. More than 6,000 plant species produce these toxic compounds. Bees can forage on flowers of plants producing PAs, which leads to contamination of honey with the toxic compounds. To determine the contamination of honey with PAs, a sensitive method based on liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry has been developed.Material and MethodsPAs were extracted with 0.05 M sulphuric acid and purified with MCX cartridges. A solvent mixture consisting of ethyl acetate, methanol, acetonitrile, ammonia, and triethylamine (8:1:1:0.1:0.1, v/v) was used to wash alkaloids from the cartridges. After evaporation the residues were reconstituted in water and methanol mixture and subjected to LC–MS analysis.ResultsThe developed method was validated according to SANTE/11945/2015 requirements. The recovery was from 80.6% to 114.5%. The repeatability ranged from 2.3% to 14.6%, and the reproducibility was from 4.9% to 17.7%.ConclusionsA new method for the determination of PAs in honey has been developed and validated. All evaluated parameters were in accordance with the SANTE/11945/2015 guidance document. Out of 50 analysed honey samples, 16 (32%) were positive for the content of at least one PA.

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey: determination with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method

Department of Hygiene of Animal Feedingstuffs, National Veterinary Research Institute

Journal of Veterinary Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

IntroductionPyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are probably the most widespread toxins of natural origin. More than 6,000 plant species produce these toxic...

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey: determination with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method

Published Online: Jul 07, 2018

Page range: 173 - 181

Received: Feb 08, 2018

Accepted: Jun 20, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2018-0027

Keywords
honey, food, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, LC-MS

© 2018 Ewelina Kowalczyk et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey: determination with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method

Published Online: Jul 07, 2018

Page range: 173 - 181

Received: Feb 08, 2018

Accepted: Jun 20, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2018-0027

Keywordshoney, food, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, LC-MS

© 2018 Ewelina Kowalczyk et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
honey, food, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, LC-MS