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. 2024 Jan 17;16(1):53.
doi: 10.3390/toxins16010053.

An Occurrence Study of Mycotoxins in Plant-Based Beverages Using Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Romans Pavlenko  1 , Zane Berzina  1 , Ingars Reinholds  1 , Elena Bartkiene  2 , Vadims Bartkevics  1
Affiliations

An Occurrence Study of Mycotoxins in Plant-Based Beverages Using Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Romans Pavlenko et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Mycotoxins are toxic mold metabolites that can adversely affect human and animal health. More than 400 mycotoxins have been identified so far. Cereals and nuts are the predominant mycotoxin-contaminated foodstuffs. Plant-based drinks produced from cereals, nuts, and legumes have grown in popularity. The mycotoxins accumulated in these crops may transfer to these beverages. A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and optimized for the assessment of 22 mycotoxins in commercially available plant-based drinks in Latvia and Lithuania. A total of 64% of the seventy-two analyzed beverages were positive for one to sixteen mycotoxins, with deoxynivalenol, beauvericin, and enniatins A, B, B1, T-2, and HT-2 toxins detected most frequently. The European Commission has not yet set guidelines for the maximum mycotoxin concentrations in plant-based beverages, nor has the European Food Safety Authority conducted a risk assessment. Therefore, acute exposure studies were provided for the Latvian population based on the assumed replacement of dairy milk with plant-based beverages to ascertain the safety of plant-based milk substitutes. Based on the observed levels of mycotoxin prevalence and contamination levels and assumed exposure, it can be concluded that tested plant-based beverages may be relatively safe. However, exposure to emerging mycotoxins should be considered.

Keywords: exposure assessment; liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; mycotoxins; plant beverages; thermal treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of QuEChERS and SPE C18 extraction efficiencies.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Matrix effects in the LC-MS-MS analysis of plant-based beverages.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Thermal processing results for mycotoxins in almond and soy beverages.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Thermal processing results for mycotoxins in rice and oat beverages.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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