Fate of deoxynivalenol and degradation products degraded by aqueous ozone in contaminated wheat.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a secondary metabolite produced by Fusarium species in cereals that can be harmful to the health of humans and animals. In this work, a treatment system of aqueous ozone hybrid hydroxyl free radical (·OH) was establishedto degrade DON. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF) method was applied to detect and follow the fate of DON throughout the degradation process. The electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI/MS) analysis confirmed the presence of DON and two degradation products (at 313.0215 and 325.0101 m/z) with the secondary mass spectrogram in the ESI positive mode. Based on the ESI/MS data, a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) method was established to screen and monitor DON and the two degradation products in contaminated wheat. The MRM method was applied to analyze the degree of DON degradation in the samples. Overall, this work investigated the characteristics of DON and products in the ozone degradation process, and provided new insights into the application of an aqueous ozone system for the detoxification of mycotoxin-contaminated cereals.