Determination of multimycotoxins in camel milk products of the United Arab Emirates by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

This study developed and validated a robust liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of 12 major mycotoxins in camel milk samples from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Among the evaluated extraction procedures, the modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method demonstrated the best performance, achieving recoveries of 76%-120%, as well as excellent linearity (R² >0.9994) and precision within relative SD of <20%, confirming its suitability for routine analysis. Application of the method to 30 camel milk samples revealed low overall contamination, with occasional detections of deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, HT-2 toxin, ochratoxin A, and zearalenone, while aflatoxins were absent. Market samples exhibited lower concentrations compared with farm samples, reflecting stricter quality control in commercial production. These findings provide the first comprehensive multimycotoxins baseline data for camel milk in the UAE and underscore the importance of ongoing surveillance to safeguard food safety in arid regions.