Assessment of Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) for Caribbean ciguatoxin extraction from fish tissues

Rosa Mª Ceinos a, Eva Eiriz a, Jésica Bargiela a, Lucía Viñas a, Lucía Soliño a 

aCentro Nacional Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO-CSIC), Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo, Subida a Radio Faro 50, Vigo, Spain 

Ciguatoxin (CTX) is one of the most powerful marine biotoxin produced by dinoflagellates of the genus Gambierdiscus.  The toxin is transferred to fish or other edible marine organisms through the food webs and causes a food-borne disease known as ciguatera poisoning (CP) in humans. Although widely known in tropical regions, the expansion of dinoflagellates spread CP to higher latitudes. Today the Canary Island has put in place a monitoring program to avoid ciguatoxic fish to enter the food market. One of the most reliable methods to detect CTXs so far is the N2a cell-based assay which requires prior laborious extraction of the toxin from fish tissues. In this work the Accelerated Solvent Extraction equipment has been assessed as a potential tool to automatize the extraction procedure. The matrix effect and toxin recovery were evaluated. The preliminary results show the potential of this technique and open new options for laboratories working in the area of seafood safety.