Abstract: A method for the determination of eight nicotine compounds in edible fungi by QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) extraction followed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was developed. The compounds in crushed edible fungi were extracted and purified before being injected into the HPLC-MS system. The chromatographic separation was accomplished on an HILIC column by isometric elution using a mobile phase comprising 10 mmol/L ammonium acetate aqueous solution containing 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile (20:80, V/V). The chromatographic peaks were detected by electrospray ionization (ESI) in the positive ion mode using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curve for each analyte was linear over a certain concentration range with a correlation coefficient of greater than 0.99. The limit of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD) of the developed method were 0.012–0.12 and 0.004–0.04 μg/kg, respectively. The recoveries of the method were in the range of 78.7%–107.8%. The relative standard deviations for intra-day and inter-day precision were 1.8%–10.3% and 2.8%–11.1%, respectively. The matrix effect rates of the method were 81.5%–106.6%.?In conclusion, this method is simple, rapid, accurate and sensitive, and is suitable for the detection of nicotine compounds in edible fungi.

Key words: high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; edible fungi; nicotine compounds