“Evaluation of ion mobility spectrometry for the detection of mitragynine in kratom products”
Highlights
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An ion mobility spectrometry screening method was developed for the rapid detection of mitragynine in kratom products.
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The method was applied to the analysis of 15 commercial samples suspected of containing kratom.
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Mitragynine was identified in 13 of the 15 commercial kratom products screened by IMS and confirmed in 14 of the samples by LC-MS/MS.
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This study demonstrated the suitability of IMS as a rapid screening technique for kratom products purported to contain mitragynine.
Abstract
An ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) method was developed for the rapid detection of mitragynine, the most abundant alkaloid in Mitragyna speciosa also known as kratom. The peak corresponding to the mitragynine protonated ion exhibited a reduced ion mobility of 0.95 ± 0.00014 cm2/(V s), and the mitragynine limit of detection using IMS was 0.5 ng. The IMS method was applied to the analysis of 15 commercial samples suspected of containing kratom. IMS results were compared to those obtained from liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) analysis of the same samples. Mitragynine was conclusively detected in 14 of 15 samples using LC–MS/MS and 13 of 15 samples using IMS. The discrepancy between methods reflected the fact that one sample contained mitragynine at a concentration below the IMS detection limit. This study demonstrates the utility of IMS for the rapid screening of products containing kratom as well as the scientific reliability of the IMS screening method, which was demonstrated by comparing the IMS results to the confirmatory results obtained using LC–MS/MS.
Keywords
- Ion mobility spectrometry;
- Kratom;
- Mitragynine;
- Herbal supplements;
- Rapid screening
