Destruxins (Dtx) are cyclodepsipeptides produced by enthomopathogenic fungi, which are used in biological control of different agricultural insect plagues. The present investigation reports a new approach for analysis of destruxins produced by the fungal strain Beauveria felina, using LC-PDA-ELSD-MS. Compared to previous methods, the new approach uses a clean-up on C18 cartridges, which effectively removes growth media constituents. Moreover, the use of 50:50 (v/v) MeCN/MeOH as the strongest eluting solvent in a gradient system over 0.1% H2O proved to give a better resolution of chromatographic peaks. Simultaneous detection using photodiode array (PDA), evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) and mass spectrometry (MS) indicated a practically identical response of all detectors for destruxins analysis. Five samples obtained from the culture media of B. felina were analysed, and indicated the presence of twenty known destruxins and six yet unreported cyclodepsipeptides. Considering the reduced use of MeCN, and the effectiveness of ELSD as a detector for destruxins, the method proved to be valuable and cost-effective for quality control analysis of destruxin-producing fungal strains.
destruxin; Beauveria felina; LC-PDA-ELSD-MS; light scattering; marine fungus
