PMID- 34187324 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20211019 LR - 20211019 IS - 1944-0057 (Electronic) IS - 1944-0057 (Linking) VI - 38 IP - 9 DP - 2021 Sep TI - A simple extraction method with no lipid removal for the determination of aflatoxins in almonds by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). PG - 1561-1570 LID - 10.1080/19440049.2021.1925167 [doi] AB - The present study describes a simple and rapid method for the determination of aflatoxins in almonds using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Aflatoxins were extracted using a modified QuEChERS method with little sample preparation, excluding the use of laborious purification procedures. Extracts were frozen overnight to separate the majority of lipids. The method was successfully validated for almonds. Linearity was demonstrated in the range 0.125-20 microg/kg. Limits of quantification (LOQ) ranged from 0.34 to 0.5 mug/kg. Matrix effect was not significant for the aflatoxins. Satisfactory recoveries were obtained at spike levels below 1 mug/kg and between 1 and 10 mug/kg. Relative standard deviations (RSDs) of repeatability and reproducibility were below 15%. The method was successfully tested with two proficiency tests in almond powder and peanut paste, with acceptable z-scores (-2