Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Microcystins from Cyanobacterial Biomass: Optimization of the Sample Preparation Procedure

Abstract

The sample preparation procedure for determination of microcystins from biomass by the LC–MS method was optimized. Treatment of freeze-dried biomass samples with acetonitrile prior to the main extraction was effectively used for decreasing the amount of protein-like matrix compounds in extracts. Use of acetonitrile–water mixtures during the main ultrasound-assisted extraction allowed increasing the total microcystins amount in the resultant extracts compared to the traditional extraction using 75% methanol.