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SOLID SUPPORT CHOICE AND ITS IMPACTS ON VORTEX-ASSISTED MSPD EXTRACTION OF AFLATOXINS IN CORN FLOUR

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Aflatoxins can cause damage to the health of humans and animals. Several institutions around the world have established regulations to limit the levels of aflatoxins in food, and numerous analytical methods have been extensively developed for aflatoxin determination. However, the choice of green procedures demands researches for each matrix intending to obtain credible results. A method based on matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) extraction was optimized to determine aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 in corn flour. Six solid phases were tested: C18, celite, a mixture of rice husk and celite (50:50 and 90:10, p/p), control sample (without solid support) and 0.1 g of celite. Portions of 1 g corn flour were blended with 1 g of solid support in a glass mortar for 5 min using a pestle, to obtain homogenous mixture. The mixture was transferred into a centrifuge tube, 20 mL acetonitrile:methanol (50:50, v/v) was added and the content was thoroughly vortexed for 3 min. The aflatoxins determination was carried by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection and post-column derivatization. Among the solids supports available the best were C18 (83.4-102.5%), husk rice:celite (90:10, p/p) (77.4-123.6%) and 0.1 g of celite (90.2-138.7%). However, the best recoveries (94.4% to 112.5%) were obtained by the method that not used solid support. According to the study, the physical sample structure acted as an abrasive and promoted the disruption of the matrix sample providing better extraction of aflatoxins. This is very promising considering the minimal residue generation and determination cost.