RAFA 2024: Michael Sulyok of the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences on Novel Mycotoxin Methods

Michael Sulyok is a senior researcher at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria. His work focuses extensively on food safety, particularly in the analysis of mycotoxins and other contaminants in agricultural products. He collaborates widely on studies involving advanced analytical techniques, such as liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy, to detect toxins and secondary metabolites in food and feed. His research also addresses sustainability challenges and the impact of environmental factors on food safety.

Some of his recent work includes exploring toxin profiles in therapeutic foods for malnourished children, rapid screening methods for deoxynivalenol in wheat, and co-occurrence studies of metabolites in brewing barley. Michael has presented his findings at prominent conferences, including the World Mycotoxin Forum and the Green Data Lab Conference​.

Michael answered the following questions at RAFA 2024:

• You recently published a paper entitled: “Quantification of 700 mycotoxins and other secondary metabolites of fungi and plants in grain products”. What is novel about this research?
• How does the "dilute and shoot" approach contribute to maintaining the integrity of the complex food matrices analyzed, and what makes it preferable over other sample preparation methods in this study?
• Could you explain the significance of the matrix effects observed in 7-14% of analytes and the measures taken to mitigate any potential biases they might introduce?
• How did you ensure that the liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method met regulatory standards for limits of quantification, and how did these limits compare to existing regulatory thresholds?
• Given that 26 compounds had recoveries outside the 70–120% target range, what insights can you provide into why these particular compounds presented issues, and are there potential adjustments to the methodology that could improve recoveries?