The first detection of okadaic acid and its derivatives in Korean bivalves by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

ABSTRACT:   Lipophilic toxin profiles associated with diarrhetic shellfish poisoning in Korean bivalves were investigated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Okadaic acid (OA), dinophysistoxins (DTX), pectenotoxins (PTX) and yessotoxin (YTX) in bivalves were quantified by LC-MS. Thirty-eight bivalve samples were collected from five different areas on the south coast of Korea during January to June 2006. Dinophysistoxin-1 (DTX1) and OA were found in some samples of both mussel Mytilus edulis and oyster Crassostrea gigas . The levels of DTX1 and OA found in the hepatopancreas of the samples were 0.04–0.23 µg/g and 0.03–0.08 µg/g, respectively. Dinophysistoxin-3 was found in the hepatopancreas of the short-necked clam Ruditapes philippinarum at a concentration of 0.06 µg/g. PTX and YTX were not detected from all of the samples examined. This is the first report of the unambiguous identification of OA and its derivatives, by LC-MS, in Korean bivalves.