Abstract:A high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed to determine toxoflavin and fervenulin, in fermented corn flour, as well as in Tremella fuciformis and its products. After extraction, the target compounds were separated using a C18 column. The retention times and spectrograms were used for qualitative determination, and the levels were quantitatively measured using external standards. The established method was compared with the existing methods. The stability of the two target compounds, namely toxoflavin and fervenulin, under different conditions were also compared. The results suggest that the two target compounds show good linearity in the concentration range of 0.20~20.00 mg/L, R2>0.999. The limits of detection of toxoflavin and fervenulin were 0.15 mg/kg (fermented corn flour) and 0.30 mg/kg (T. fuciformis and its products), respectively. The recovery rates were 79.77%~104.36% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 0.96%~8.91% (n=6). The levels of both toxoflavin and fervenulin rapidly decreased to less than 40% under alkaline conditions. In contrast, the toxoflavin content reduced to less than 26% under acidic conditions in 5 months, whereas fervenulin remained stable under the same condition. Both compounds were stable in methanol within the tested period (5 months). The RSDs of absorbance were less than 3.18%. Compared with the existing methods, the proposed method is simple and rapid, with low interference and high accuracy. It could be applied for the determination of toxoflavin and fervenulin in fermented corn flour as well as in T. fuciformis and its products. The stability test can provide an excellent reference for detoxification or poisoning avoidance in future.
