Date of Submission

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Forensic Science

Department

Criminal Justice

Advisor

Marisia A. Fikiet, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Robert Powers, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Heather Coyle, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Na Liu, Ph.D.

Keywords

Amanita Phalloides, Amatoxins, Accidental Poisoning, Gummy Matrix, Solid Phase Extraction (SPE), Triple Quadrupole LC-MS/MS

MeSH

Amanita phalloides, Amanitins, Mushroom Poisoning, Food Contamination, Solid Phase Extraction, Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

LCSH

Amanita phalloides, Amanitins, Mushroom Poisoning, Food Contamination, Solid-phase extraction, Liquid chromatography

Abstract

As a species, there is no mushroom family more deadly than the Amanita family, with most deaths being attributed to the mushroom A. phalloides. Its deadliness comes from a class of chemicals called amatoxins. These cyclic polypeptides (a, . and y) inhibit the function of RNA polymerase II which shuts down protein production in cells. Victims exhibit gastrointestinal issues followed by live failure, multiorgan failure, and eventually death if not treated. As interest in mushroom foraging increases, so does the potential for accidental poisoning based on misidentification. Another growing trend is people turning mushrooms into gummy candy, whether it be for their psychologic or potential health benefits. It is only a matter of time before someone makes gummies out of a misidentified amatoxin mushroom or one of these mushrooms makes its way into a product supply. This study aims to provide a sensitive and economical method for the detection of a-amanitin from a gummy matrix. Due to the absence of a method with this purpose, method development began by splicing together different extraction and detection methods from the fields of food science and clinical toxicology. The final method uses an initial water dissolution followed by solid phase extraction (SPE). The sample is centrifuged to separate any remaining contaminants before being run on a triple quadrupole LC-MS/MS in MRM mode using a C18 analytical column. It was found that this method was successful in detecting a-amanitin at a concentration as low as 1 ng/µL. This method was also tested on market products. In this experiment, the internal standard was present in all samples, however there was no a-amanitin detected, indicating the method worked but there was not a-amanitin at a level that could be detected. From these results, this study hopes to be a starting point for further analysis of amatoxins in atypical matrices.

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