Available epidemiological information seems to indicate that Balkan endemic nephropathy is associated with consumption patterns involving foodstuffs contaminated with ochratoxin A (OTA) and with a higher frequency of OTA-positive blood samples. The aim of this preliminary study was to assess OTA concentrations in human plasma in Morocco. Therefore, samples from 309 healthy volunteers (213 males, 96 females) were analysed. The analyses revealed that 60% of the human plasma sampled was positive for OTA (61.5% in the male and 56% in the female population), and an average concentration of 0.29 ng// /mL (0.31 ng///mL in males, 0.26 ng// /mL in females). The highest concentration found was 6.59 ng// /mL. The results suggest that the Moroccan population is exposed to OTA, even though the OTA plasma levels are lower than that reported in some North African countries.

In a preliminary study, samples of Moroccan wines (n = 30), beers (n = 5) and fruit juices (n = 14) were assayed for ochratoxin A (OTA) by HPLC with fluorimetric detection, followed by confirmation by cleavage of the OTA molecule using carboxypeptidase with HPLC-fluorimetric determination of ochratoxin alpha (OT alpha). All the wine samples were contaminated, and the overall median OTA concentration was 0.65 microg/l (range 0.028-3.24 microg/l). One of the 14 samples of fruit juices was contaminated with a concentration of 1.16 microg/l, whereas none of the five beer samples was contaminated. This is the first report on the occurrence of OTA in various beverages from Morocco.

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