Simultaneous detection of multiple mycotoxins in broiler feeds using a liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry

Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites that are typically present in grain and feed ingredients used foranimal feeds. An analytical method using LC-ESI-MS/MS was developed to quantify nine mycotoxins, consisting ofaflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁), AFB₂, AFG₁, AFG₂, T-2 toxin,deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV), zearalenone (ZEA) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in broiler feeds. In total,100 samples of broiler feeds were collected from poultry farms in Central Thailand. The survey found thatAFB₁ and ZEA were the most prevalent mycotoxins in the feed samples at percentages of 93% and63%, respectively. The limit of detections (LODs) of investigated mycotoxins was 0.20–0.78ng/g. AFB₂, DON, AFG₁, NIV and T-2 toxin were also detectable at lowcontamination levels with percentages of 20%, 9%, 7%, 5% and 1%, respectively, whereas OTA and AFG₂were not detected in any of the feed samples. These results suggest that there is a very low level of risk ofthe exposure to mycotoxins in feeds obtained from broiler farms in Central Thailand.