Quantitative determination of five ergot alkaloids in rye flour by liquid chromatography–electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry

A confirmatory method for detecting five ergot alkaloids, ergocristine, ergotamine, ergonovine, ergocornine and α-ergokryptine, in rye flour is described using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry detection by monitoring two transition reactions per analyte. The procedure entails a liquid–liquid extraction followed by a clean-up step using a C18 solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge. An analogue compound, methysergide hydrogen maleinate, was used to assess both repeatability sample preparation and potential MS response fluctuations. The method was fully validated according to the European Union (EU) criteria. Detection and quantification limits of all analytes were calculated ranging from 7 to 11 μg/kg and from 23 to 37 μg/kg, respectively. Fifteen rye flour samples were investigated with the newly developed method, and none of them were above the current Swiss limits of 200 mg/kg for total ergot alkaloids.