Food and Fermentation Industries >

2026 , Vol. 52 >Issue 10: 373 - 381

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.043879

Research on the detection method of 31 pyrrolizidine alkaloids in tea

  • LI Jiawen ,
  • WU Wei ,
  • FENG Dejian ,
  • TAO Xinyu ,
  • LI Xueli ,
  • ZENG Xianchun
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  • 1(School of Laboratory Medicine, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu 610500, China)
    2(Institute of Biological Technology, National Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Chengdu 610000, China)
    3(Sichuan Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Prevention and Control Technology of Veterinary Drug Residue in Animal-origin Food, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu 610500, China)

Received date: 2025-07-14

  Revised date: 2025-10-29

  Online published: 2026-06-15

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Abstract

In response to the food safety risks caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) contamination in tea, this study developed a highly sensitive detection method for simultaneously determining 31 hepatotoxic PAs and PAs N-oxides (PANOs) in tea using UHPLC-MS/MS.This method has the widest detection range among the relevant reported in the literature at present.Acidified ethanol extraction and subsequent Mixed-mode Strong Cation Exchange Reverse-phase Solid Phase Extraction Cartridges (PXC) purification of samples effectively eliminated polyphenol, pigment, and alkaloid interference in the tea matrix.The separation was carried out on an Agilent Eclipse Plus C18 column with a gradient elution of methanol and 0.1% formic acid water (containing 5 mmol/L ammonium formate) as the mobile phase.Detection was performed in positive ion MRM mode.The method was quantified by matrix-matched standard curve external standard method.The results showed that the 31 target compounds had good linearity within the concentration range (r2>0.997), and isomers could be baseline separated.The method's limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.2-2 μg/kg, and the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.06-0.66 μg/kg.At low, medium and high spiked concentration levels, the average spiked recovery rate from 60.4% to 101.6%, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.1% to 6.0%.The above validation data indicate that the method has good accuracy and repeatability, and is suitable for the simultaneous detection of 31 PAs and PANOs in tea.It can provide technical support for the upgrading of the quality monitoring system of China’s tea trade.

Key words： tea; pyrrolizidine alkaloids; detection analysis; ultra high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; solid phase extraction

Cite this article

LI Jiawen , WU Wei , FENG Dejian , TAO Xinyu , LI Xueli , ZENG Xianchun . Research on the detection method of 31 pyrrolizidine alkaloids in tea[J]. Food and Fermentation Industries, 2026 , 52(10) : 373 -381 . DOI: 10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.043879

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