Development of a Rapid LC/DAD/FLD/MSn Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Monacolins and Citrinin in Red Fermented Rice Products

Red fermented rice is used worldwide by many patients as an alternative therapy for hyperlipidemia; however, the discovery of a toxic fermentation byproduct, citrinin, causes much controversy about the safety of red mold rice products. A new and fast high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of cholesterol-lowering compounds monacolin K (lovastatin), monacolin K hydroxy acid, and other monacolins present in red fermented rice as well as nephrotoxic mycotoxin citrinin in a single run using connected diode array and fluorescence and mass spectrometric detectors. The proposed method was successfully applied for the analysis of red fermented rice food samples and various dietary supplements also containing other natural lipid-lowering agents. The deviations between label content and levels of active compounds found in investigated samples as well as high batch-to-batch variation found in one product indicate that the regular quality control of red fermented rice products is of great importance.