Evaluation of dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction for the determination of patulin in apple juices using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

Diversity of Mycotoxins and Other Secondary Metabolites Recovered from Blood Oranges Infected by Colletotrichum, Alternaria, and Penicillium Species

This study identified secondary metabolites produced by Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and Penicillium digitatum in fruits of two blood orange cultivars before harvest. Analysis was performed by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS. Three types of fruits were selected, asymptomatic, symptomatic showing necrotic lesions caused by hail, and mummified. Extracts from peel and juice were analyzed separately. Penicillium digitatum was the prevalent species recovered from mummified and hail-injured fruits. Among 47 secondary metabolites identified, 16, 18, and 13 were of A. alternata, C. gloeosporioides, and P. digitatum, respectively. Consistently with isolations, indicating the presence of these fungi also in asymptomatic fruits, the metabolic profiles of the peel of hail-injured and asymptomatic fruits did not differ substantially. Major differences were found in the profiles of juice from hail-injured and mummified fruits, such as a significant higher presence of 5,4-dihydroxy-3,7,8-trimethoxy-6C-methylflavone and Atrovenetin, particularly in the juice of mummified fruits of the Tarocco Lempso cultivar. Moreover, the mycotoxins patulin and Rubratoxin B were detected exclusively in mummified fruits. Patulin was detected in both the juice and peel, with a higher relative abundance in the juice, while Rubratoxin B was detected only in the juice. These findings provide basic information for evaluating and preventing the risk of contamination by mycotoxins in the citrus fresh fruit supply chain and juice industry.

Non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis-time of flight mass spectrometry method to determine emerging mycotoxins

Enniatins (ENN) and beauvericin (BEA) are emerging mycotoxins that have been traditionally determined by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). However, to the best of our knowledge, no analytical methods based on capillary electrophoresis (CE)-MS/MS have been reported so far. Due to their non-polar nature, in this work, a non-aqueous CE (NACE) method coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight-MS is proposed for the first time to identify and quantify these mycotoxins. Determination was achieved in 4 min under optimum conditions: 40 mM ammonium acetate in 80:20 (v/v) acetonitrile-methanol (buffer), 30 kV (voltage), 80 cm (capillary length), 20 °C (capillary temperature) and 50 mbar × 30 s (injection). Higher selectivity can be achieved when compared with LC due to the formation of exclusive CE adducts such as [M + CH₃CH₂NH₃]⁺. "All Ions" acquisition mode was selected as it allows the quantification of the usual ENNs, as well as the identity confirmation of less common ENNs. The method was validated for wheat samples, obtaining limits of quantification from 4.0 to 8.3 μg/kg depending on the emerging mycotoxin, recovery values higher than 87.4%, and intra- and inter-day precision values (RSDs) lower than 15.1% in all cases. Finally, 29 wheat samples were analyzed, finding 26 samples with concentrations of enniatin B higher than the limit of quantification (7.5-1480 μg/kg), 20 for enniatin B1 (5.2-550 μg/kg), 7 for enniatin A (10-55 μg/kg), 4 for enniatin A1 (12.6-77 μg/kg) and 5 for BEA (9.2-16.4 μg/kg). Moreover, two other ENNs were tentatively identified.

Comprehensive review on patulin and Alternaria toxins in fruit and derived products

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain fungi, which can contaminate various food commodities, including fruits and their derived products. Patulin and Alternaria toxins are among the most commonly encountered mycotoxins in fruit and their derived products. In this review, the sources, toxicity, and regulations related to these mycotoxins, as well as their detection and mitigation strategies are widely discussed. Patulin is a mycotoxin produced mainly by the fungal genera Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Byssochlamys. Alternaria toxins, produced by fungi in the Alternaria genus, are another common group of mycotoxins found in fruits and fruit products. The most prevalent Alternaria toxins are alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME). These mycotoxins are of concern due to their potential negative effects on human health. Ingesting fruits contaminated with these mycotoxins can cause acute and chronic health problems. Detection of patulin and Alternaria toxins in fruit and their derived products can be challenging due to their low concentrations and the complexity of the food matrices. Common analytical methods, good agricultural practices, and contamination monitoring of these mycotoxins are important for safe consumption of fruits and derived products. And Future research will continue to explore new methods for detecting and managing these mycotoxins, with the ultimate goal of ensuring the safety and quality of fruits and derived product supply.

Contamination, Detection and Control of Mycotoxins in Fruits and Vegetables

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by pathogenic fungi that colonize fruits and vegetables either during harvesting or during storage. Mycotoxin contamination in fruits and vegetables has been a major problem worldwide, which poses a serious threat to human and animal health through the food chain. This review systematically describes the major mycotoxigenic fungi and the produced mycotoxins in fruits and vegetables, analyzes recent mycotoxin detection technologies including chromatography coupled with detector (i.e., mass, ultraviolet, fluorescence, etc.) technology, electrochemical biosensors technology and immunological techniques, as well as summarizes the degradation and detoxification technologies of mycotoxins in fruits and vegetables, including physical, chemical and biological methods. The future prospect is also proposed to provide an overview and suggestions for future mycotoxin research directions.

Critical Assessment of Mycotoxins in Beverages and Their Control Measures

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of filamentous fungi that contaminate food products such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, beverages, and other agricultural commodities. Their occurrence in the food chain, especially in beverages, can pose a serious risk to human health, due to their toxicity, even at low concentrations. Mycotoxins, such as aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxin A (OTA), patulin (PAT), fumonisins (FBs), trichothecenes (TCs), zearalenone (ZEN), and the alternaria toxins including alternariol, altenuene, and alternariol methyl ether have largely been identified in fruits and their derived products, such as beverages and drinks. The presence of mycotoxins in beverages is of high concern in some cases due to their levels being higher than the limits set by regulations. This review aims to summarize the toxicity of the major mycotoxins that occur in beverages, the methods available for their detection and quantification, and the strategies for their control. In addition, some novel techniques for controlling mycotoxins in the postharvest stage are highlighted.

Optimization of green and rapid analytical procedure for the extraction of patulin in fruit juice and dried fruit samples by air-assisted natural deep eutectic solvent-based solidified homogeneous liquid phase microextraction using experimental design and computational chemistry approach

In this paper, a green and inexpensive air-assisted natural deep eutectic solvent-based solidified homogeneous liquid phase microextraction procedure was optimized for extraction of patulin in fruit juice and dried fruit samples using experimental design prior to its spectrophotometric determination. Four different natural deep eutectic solvent were prepared and applied to ensure efficient, and selective extraction of patulin. The significant variables including Zn(II) amount, cooling time, pH and amount of natural deep eutectic solvent were optimized by using central composite design. Under optimized conditions, working range was 10-750 μg L^-1 with 0.9996 of correlation coefficient. Detection limit and preconcentration factor were 3.5 μg L^-1 and 150, respectively. The repeatability and reproducibility precision were in the range of 3.2-4.6% and 4.3-5.6% respectively. Recoveries ranging from 94% to 104% proved the accuracy of the method. The optimized method was successfully applied to the extraction and identification of patulin in the selected samples.

In-line molecularly imprinted polymer solid phase extraction-capillary electrophoresis coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of patulin in apple-based food

We present a simple and sensitive method for the determination of patulin at µg·kg^-1 level in apple-based products. Our method relies on the application of an in-line molecularly imprinted polymer solid-phase extraction microcartridge in capillary electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry. Capillary zone electrophoresis method has been developed and parameters affecting the in-line process have been carefully optimized. Validation parameters were assessed for patulin, giving LOQ of 1 µg·kg^-1 and linearity range 1-100 µg·kg^-1 with R² ≥ 0.997. The LOQ was below the maximum content of patulin requested by the European Union in this type of products. The precision of the peak area and the migration time were less than 14.9 and 1.6%, respectively. Patulin has been analyzed in the presence of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, which is the main interference in this kind of matrix. The method was applied to assay patulin content in various apple-based products.

Preparation of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer for selective identification of patulin in juice

A highly efficient and selective method was successfully developed by using magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs) combined with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to quickly determine patulin (PAT) in juice. MMIPs was prepared by surface imprinting method using Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as supporter, 2-oxindole as virtual template, (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) as functional monomer and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as crosslinking agent. The structure of the product was characterized by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that MMIP with a particle size of about 450 nm was successfully prepared, the imprinted molecular layer accounted for about 11.6% of the total mass, and the saturation magnetization was about 6.82 emu/g. The maximum adsorption capacities (Qmax) of kinetic and thermodynamic adsorption experiments were 1.97 mg/g and 4.241 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption process was highly selective and fitted well with the pseudo-second-order model. Langmuir model demonstrated that the binding sites were evenly distributed on the surface of the MMIPs. Scatchard analysis showed that MMIPs had two types of binding sites with Qmax of 4.53 mg/g and 5.73 mg/g, respectively. In the actual sample application, the limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) were 3 μg/kg and 10 μg/kg. And the recovery rate of the sample was 86.44-95.50%. MMIPs possessed excellent applicability with stability of 1.11-3.16% and accuracy of 0.63-1.94%. These results indicated that MMIPs had good performance in separating PAT and was suitable for determining PAT in actual samples.

Switchable fluorescence sensor toward PAT via CA-MWCNTs quenched aptamer-tagged carboxyfluorescein

A quenching based apta-sensing platform was developed for the detection of Patulin. Three different aptamer sequences were studied to screen the aptamer with the maximum affinity towards Patulin. Carboxyfluorescein (CFL) was used as a fluorescent dye while -COOH functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were applied as novel nanoquenchers. Aptamer tagged at the 3' end with 40 nucleotide bases exhibited the maximum affinity towards Patulin and caused substantial fluorescence recovery. Interestingly, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were calculated as 0.13 μg L^-1and 0.41 μg L^-1 respectively. Commonly occurring mycotoxins in food were also tested to confirm the selectivity of apta-assay. The developed apta-assay was applied to a spiked apple juice sample and toxin recoveries were observed ranging from 96% to 98% (n = 3). These results demonstrated the potential of the developed apta-assay for the selective detection and quantification of Patulin in food samples.

Mycotoxin Dietary Exposure Assessment through Fruit Juices Consumption in Children and Adult Population

Consumption of fruit juice is becoming trendy for consumers seeking freshness and high vitamin and low caloric intake. Mycotoxigenic moulds may infect fruits during crop growth, harvest, and storage leading to mycotoxin production. Many mycotoxins are resistant to food processing, which make their presence in the final juice product very likely expected. In this way, the presence of 30 mycotoxins including aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), aflatoxin B2 (AFB2), aflatoxin G1 (AFG1), aflatoxin G2 (AFG2), alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), Ochratoxin A (OTA), fumonisin B1 (FB1), fumonisin B2 (FB2), enniatin A (ENNA), enniatin A1 (ENNA1), enniatin B (ENNB), enniatin B1 (ENNB1), beauvericin (BEA), sterigmatocystin (STG), zearalenone (ZEA), α-zearalanol (α-ZAL), β-zearalanol (β-ZAL), α-zearalenol (α-ZOL), β-zearalenol (β-ZOL), deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-ADON), 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-ADON), diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), nivalenol (NIV), fusarenon-X (FUS-X), neosolaniol (NEO), patulin (PAT), T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin was evaluated in 80 juice samples collected from Valencia retail Market. An efficient Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction method (DLLME) was carried out before their trace level determination by chromatographic techniques coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The results obtained revealed the presence of nine mycotoxins namely AOH, AME, PAT, OTA, AFB1, AFB2, AFG2, β-ZAL, and HT2 in the analyzed samples, with incidences ranging from 3 to 29% and mean contents between 0.14 and 59.52 µg/L. Considerable percentages of TDIs were reached by children when 200 mL was considered as daily fruit juice intake.

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for rapid and inexpensive determination of tetramethylpyrazine in vinegar

The concentration of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) in vinegar is an active indicator of vinegar quality. Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) was first applied to vinegar as a clean-up pre-treatment for the rapid (5 min) determination of TMP by high-pressure liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV), and may serve as an alternative to solid-phase extraction (SPE) or solid-phase microextraction (SPME). High sensitivity of HPLC for TMP determination was obtained using the DLLME pretreatment, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.001 mg L^-1 and limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.005 mg L^-1. The developed method exhibited excellent linearity in the concentration range of 0.050-80.000 mg L^-1, with a correlation coefficient R² > 0.999. Furthermore, the percentage recovery of TMP in vinegar using the developed method was within the range 97.97-105.24%. Therefore, DLLME coupled with HPLC-UV is a sensitive and promising method for vinegar clean-up and TMP assay.

Patulin in fruit juices: occurrence, bioaccessibility, and risk assessment for Serbian population

This paper reports the first study of patulin occurrence in fruit juices and risk assessment related to patulin intake by children, adolescents and adults in Serbia. During 3 consecutive years (2013-2015), 142 fruit (apple or multi-fruit) juices were collected from the market and analysed using HPLC-UV. Patulin was found in 51.4% of juices with 0.7% of the samples in excess of the legal limit of 50 μg kg^-1 (mean 4.3 μg kg^-1). Apple juices showed significantly higher percentage of contaminated samples (74.0% vs 27.5%), as well as higher mean patulin content (6.4 vs 2.1 μg kg^-1) when compared with the multi-fruit ones. Bioaccessibility of patulin in fruit juices was studied using the standardised in vitro digestion method. A mean of 21.6% of the initial patulin amount reached the end of the intestinal phase showing a significant reduction of this toxin during the human digestion process. Risk assessment of patulin intake by Serbian children, adolescents and adults, conducted by deterministic and probabilistic approaches and including the bioaccessibility results, revealed no health concern. Although patulin alone does not represent risk, further research should consider its co-occurrence with other toxic substances in food and potential adverse effects of their mixtures.

Mycotoxin Analysis of Human Urine by LC-MS/MS: A Comparative Extraction Study

The lower mycotoxin levels detected in urine make the development of sensitive and accurate analytical methods essential. Three extraction methods, namely salting-out liquid–liquid extraction (SALLE), miniQuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe), and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME), were evaluated and compared based on analytical parameters for the quantitative LC-MS/MS measurement of 11 mycotoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2, OTA, ZEA, BEA, EN A, EN B, EN A1 and EN B1) in human urine. DLLME was selected as the most appropriate methodology, as it produced better validation results for recovery (79–113%), reproducibility (RSDs < 12%), and repeatability (RSDs < 15%) than miniQuEChERS (71–109%, RSDs <14% and <24%, respectively) and SALLE (70–108%, RSDs < 14% and < 24%, respectively). Moreover, the lowest detection (LODS) and quantitation limits (LOQS) were achieved with DLLME (LODs: 0.005–2 μg L⁻¹, LOQs: 0.1–4 μg L⁻¹). DLLME methodology was used for the analysis of 10 real urine samples from healthy volunteers showing the presence of ENs B, B1 and A1 at low concentrations.

Determination of the authenticity of plastron-derived functional foods based on amino acid profiles analysed by MEKC

Plastron is a nutritive and superior functional food. Due to its limited supply yet enormous demands, some functional foods supposed to contain plastron may be forged with other substitutes. This paper reports a novel and simple method for determination of the authenticity of plastron-derived functional foods based on comparison of the amino acid (AA) profiles of plastron and its possible substitutes. By applying micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), 18 common AAs along with another 2 special AAs - hydroxyproline (Hyp) and hydroxylysine (Hyl) were detected in all plastron samples. Since chicken, egg, fish, milk, pork, nail and hair lacked of Hyp and Hyl, plastron could be easily distinguished. For those containing collagen, a statistical analysis technique - principal component analysis (PCA) was adopted and plastron was successfully distinguished. When applied the proposed method to authenticate turtle shell glue in the market, fake products were commonly found.

Risk assessment of patulin intake through apple-based food by infants and preschool children in Serbia

This study reports for the first time in Serbia the occurrence of patulin in apple-based food and the risk assessment associated with patulin intake by infants and preschool children. In total, 214 samples of infant fruit juices (48), infant purée (66), and juices for children (small package with straw, 100) were collected over 3 years (2013-15) and analysed using HPLC with ultraviolet detection. Patulin was found in 43.8% of infant juices and 16.7% of infant purée, with all values below the legal limit of 10 μg kg^-1 (maximum 8.3 and 7.7 μg kg^-1, respectively). The proportion of contaminated samples among fruit juices for children was 43.0%, with the highest patulin concentration at 30.2 μg kg^-1, not exceeding the maximum allowed level of 50 μg kg^-1. Risk assessment of patulin intake by Serbian infants and preschool children, conducted by deterministic and probabilistic approaches, revealed a hazard quotient well below 1, indicating a tolerable exposure level and no health concern.

Determination of trace patulin in apple-based food matrices

Patulin is a toxic metabolite of a number of fungi; its toxicity is serious and its contamination in food is a worldwide problem, especially in apple-based food. Effective control of patulin contamination strongly depends on reliable analytical methods. In this review, various analytical methods, especially those that have appeared in the last ten years, are summarized, including the highly reproducible chromatography and mass-spectrometry-based methods, highly selective sensor-based methods and indirect quantitative PCR methods. This review also summarizes the promising features of novel materials in sample preparation for patulin determination.

Determination of patulin in apple juice using magnetic solid-phase extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography

An efficient magnetic sorbent consisting of benzofuran-2-carboxylic acid-loaded magnetic nanocomposite was successfully synthesised for pre-concentration of patulin from apple juice. The prepared magnetic nanocomposite was characterised by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Determination of enriched patulin was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The best adsorption conditions were 40 mg of sorbent, 50 ml of apple juice sample, pH 5, ambient temperature and 25 min; the elution conditions were 500 μl methanol, pH 5, ambient temperature, and 4 min. Under optimised conditions, pre-concentration factor was 100, linearity range was 1-400 μg l^-1 of patulin, limit of detection was 0.15 μg l^-1 and limit of quantification was 0.5 μg l^-1. When samples were determined 20 times, the recovery was 93.9-102.6% and the relative standard deviation was below 5.3%. In terms of proposed procedure, the developed method was successfully applied for patulin detection in apple juice samples.

Development and Validation of a LC-ESI-MS/MS Method for the Determination of Alternaria Toxins Alternariol, Alternariol Methyl-Ether and Tentoxin in Tomato and Tomato-Based Products

Alternaria species are capable of producing several secondary toxic metabolites in infected plants and in agricultural commodities, which play important roles in food safety. Alternaria alternata turn out to be the most frequent fungal species invading tomatoes. Alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), and tentoxin (TEN) are some of the main Alternaria mycotoxins that can be found as contaminants in food. In this work, an analytical method based on liquid chromatography (LC) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detection for the simultaneous quantification of AOH, AME, and TEN in tomato and tomato-based products was developed. Mycotoxin analysis was performed by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) combined with LC-ESI-MS/MS. Careful optimization of the MS/MS parameters was performed with an LC/MS system with the ESI interface in the positive ion mode. Mycotoxins were efficiently extracted from sample extract into a droplet of chloroform (100 µL) by DLLME technique using acetonitrile as a disperser solvent. Method validation following the Commission Decision No. 2002/657/EC was carried out by using tomato juice as a blank matrix. Limits of detection and quantitation were, respectively, in the range 0.7 and 3.5 ng/g. Recovery rates were above 80%. Relative standard deviations of repeatability (RSDr) and intermediate reproducibility (RSDR) were ≤ 9% and ≤ 15%, respectively, at levels of 25 and 50 ng/g. Five out of 30 analyzed samples resulted positive to at least one Alternaria toxin investigated. AOH was the most common Alternaria toxin found, but at levels close to LOQ (average content: 3.75 ng/g).

Multimycotoxin analysis in water and fish plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

High performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used for the determination of 15 mycotoxins in water and fish plasma samples, including aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxin A, sterigmatocistin, fusarenon-X and emerging Fusarium mycotoxins. In this work, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) was assessed as a sample treatment for the simultaneous extraction of mycotoxins. Results showed differences in recovery assays when different extraction solvents were employed. Ethyl acetate showed better recoveries for the major part of mycotoxins analyzed, except for aflatoxins B2, G1 and G2, which showed better recoveries when employing chloroform as extractant solvent. Fumonisins and beauvericin exhibited low recoveries in both water and plasma. This method was validated according to guidelines established by European Commission and has shown to be suitable to be applied in dietary and/or toxicokinetic studies in fish where is necessary to check mycotoxin contents in rearing water and fish plasma.

Capillary Electrophoresis in Food and Foodomics

Quality and safety assessment as well as the evaluation of other nutritional and functional properties of foods imply the use of robust, efficient, sensitive, and cost-effective analytical methodologies. Among analytical technologies used in the fields of food analysis and foodomics, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has generated great interest for the analyses of a large number of compounds due to its high separation efficiency, extremely small sample and reagent requirements, and rapid analysis. The introductory section of this chapter provides an overview of the recent applications of capillary electrophoresis (CE) in food analysis and foodomics. Relevant reviews and research articles on these topics are tabulated including papers published in the period 2011-2014. In addition, to illustrate the great capabilities of CE in foodomics the chapter describes the main experimental points to be taken into consideration for a metabolomic study of the antiproliferative effect of carnosic acid (a natural diterpene found in rosemary) against HT-29 human colon cancer cells.

Mycotoxin Analysis: New Proposals for Sample Treatment

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by different fungi, with different chemical structures. Mycotoxins contaminate food, feed, or raw materials used in their production and cause diseases and disorders in humans and livestock. Because of their great variety of toxic effects and their extreme heat resistance, the presence of mycotoxins in food and feed is considered a high risk to human and animal health. In order to ensure food quality and health consumers, European legislation has set maximum contents of some mycotoxins in different matrices. However, there are still some food commodities susceptible to fungal contamination, which were not contemplated in this legislation. In this context, we have developed new analytical techniques for the multiclass determination of mycotoxins in a great variety of food commodities (some of them scarcely studied), such as cereals, pseudocereals, cereal syrups, nuts, edible seeds, and botanicals. Considering the latest technical developments, ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry has been chosen as an efficient, fast, and selective powerful analytical technique. In addition, alternative sample treatments based on emerging methodologies, such as dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and QuEChERS, have been developed, which allow an increased efficiency and sample throughput, as well as reducing contaminant waste.

A validated dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method for extraction of ochratoxin A from raisin samples

A method based on dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) was developed for the quantitative extraction of Ochratoxin A (OTA) from raisin samples. The influence of various parameters on the recovery of OTA such as type and volume of DLLME extractant, centrifuging and sonication time, also volume of deionized water was investigated. Recovery values under the optimum conditions were between 68.6 and 85.2 %, the inner and intra-day precision expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD%, n = 3), were less than 15 % at spiking levels of 2.5-30 μg kg(-1). Linearity was studied from 0.5 to 30 μg L(-1), and the limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 0.7 and 2.0 μg kg(-1), respectively. Real samples were analyzed by DLLME method and compared with confirmative immunoaffinity Column Chromatography (IAC) clean-up. Low cost, simplicity of operation, speed and minimum consumption of organic solvent were the main advantages of proposed method. The mean contamination of samples was 0.88 μg kg(-1) that was lower than European Legal Limit.