A method for the preparation and certification of the reference material of tenuazonic acid (TeA) and tentoxin (TEN) in wheat flour was developed. This method provided methodological references to develop of standard material for analyzing alternaria toxins in grains. The wheat flour reference materials were based on wheat grains which were naturally contaminated with alternaria toxins. The certified values for TeA and TEN were determined by isotope dilution-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (ID-LC-MS/MS) and cooperated certification of multiple laboratories. The wheat flour reference materials were stored at room temperature, protected from light and characterized by low uncertainty. The wheat flour reference materials are currently the only wheat flour reference materials that naturally contaminate TeA and TEN, and it can be used in the evaluating related analytical methods involved in food safety risk monitoring, product quality testing and quality control measurements.
Keywords: alternaria toxins; liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS); reference material; tentoxin (TEN); tenuazonic acid (TeA); wheat flour.