Automated hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction coupled with liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of aflatoxin M1 in milk

• An automated HF-LPME/LC–MS/MS method was proposed for the analysis of AFM1 in milk.
• Anti-AFM1 antibody in PBS buffer solution was used as a promising extraction phase.
• The proposed method is simple, convenient, low-cost and sensitive.
• The method was successfully applied for the analysis of AFM1 in different milk.

An automated hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) coupled with liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method was developed for the extraction and determination of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk samples. Parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, such as the extraction phase, matrix conditions, extraction time and temperature, were investigated. Under the optimal conditions (ratio of water to milk, 4:1; extraction time, 50 min; extraction temperature, 50 °C; extraction phase, 50 mg L−1 anti-AFM1 antibody in PBS buffer solution; volume of HCl solution, 250 μL; agitation speed, 250 rpm), the matrix-matched calibration curve for AFM1 determination showed good linearity in the range of 0.25–5 μg kg−1. The enrichment factor (EF) reached 48, and the limits of detection and quantification were 0.06 and 0.21 μg kg−1, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied for the extraction of AFM1 from spiked milk samples, with recoveries from 61.0% to 106.7%. The method was highly specific to AFM1 analysis, and the results demonstrated that the method can be automated, inexpensive, and free from interference.