Analysis of aflatoxins in herbal medicine and health functional foods

Analytical methods of aflatoxins (AFs: B1, B2, G1 and G2) in herbal medicines (HMs) and health functional foods (HFFs) were optimized, which were used to analyze the representative samples that were directly collected from the users (total 2348 examinees) of HMs and HFFs. Two analytical methods, trifluoroacetic acid and Kobra cell derivatization methods, were compared; The latter was selected based on high linearity and sensitivity. The limits of detection of AFs using the Kobra cell method were 0.07–0.32 ng g−1. Recoveries of AFs using various matrixes such as solid, semi-solid, liquid samples and CRM were 81.81–119.87%. The Z-score and linearities of calibration curves were 0.53 and 0.9996–0.9999, respectively. Among 241 samples, only Angelica gigas NAKAI extract products (2 products) were detected to have 7.93 and 5.70 ng g−1 of aflatoxin G2.