Analysis of Cereulide in Food Using Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer

User Benefits

- This method enables the rapid analysis of cereulide, the emetic toxin responsible for Bacillus cereus foodborne illness. - Good quantification over a wide concentration range was achieved with the developed method. - This analytical method achieves good recovery rates with a simple pretreatment.

Introduction

Bacillus cereus is a Gram-positive spore-forming rod that commonly contaminates various agricultural products and causes foodborne illness. Its vegetative cells and spores are frequently found in boiled or fried rice, pasta, vegetables, and dairy products. B. cereus is known to cause two types of foodborne illnesses: diarrheal and emetic. The emetic type is caused by cereulide, a toxin produced by the bacterium. Cereulide is resistant to heat, acids, alkalis, and digestive enzymes, and due to its ability to easily proliferate at room temperature, there have been several reports of its detection in fried rice and pasta. The measurements of vacuolation degeneration activity using HEp-2 cells and PCR are known methods for the detection of cereulide. However, these methods require several days of cell culture or cannot confirm the production of cereulide itself. Therefore, in recent years, there has been a growing demand for analyticalmethods that directly detect cereulide using LC-MS/MS. We have developed a pretreatment method using methanol as an extraction solvent and an analytical method for cereulide in fried rice using an UHPLC-based LC-MS/MS.

November 4, 2025 GMT