Susceptibility of Ajwa dates (Phoenix dactylifera) to aflatoxin contamination based on liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionisation-triple quadrupole tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS)

Dates are a staple food across the world because of their religious, cultural, and nutritional importance. There are many different varieties of dates, one of which is the Ajwa variety. There have been no reports on the contamination of Ajwa dates by aflatoxins (AFs). Therefore, the present work was conducted to investigate the incidence of AFs in Ajwa dates for the first time. Samples (100) were analysed for AFs using liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionisation-triple quadrupole tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). The method was validated and regarded as reliable due to good linearity (R2 > 0.99), satisfactory recovery (61.4 - 105.7%), precision (RSDs ≤ 12.29%), and sensitivity (LOD in the range of 0.042 - 0.013 μg/kg; LOQ in the range of 0.125 - 0.038 μg/kg). Surprisingly, no aflatoxins were detected, which might indicate that this popular type of date is not likely to pose potential health risks, though further research is required.