Incidence of ochratoxin A in dried fruits and co-occurrence with aflatoxins in dried figs

Ochratoxin A in dried figs, raisings, apricots, dates on Iranian retail market

“…These findings are in agreement with some of previous studies in Argentina [24]. Although a lower occurrence rate was reported by Zinedin et al [20] (30%), and Imperato et al [25] high incidence rate of OTA in raising were more frequently observed in raisins analyzed in Germany [26], Sweden [27], Canada [28], Egypt [29] and Turkey [15,30]. Only one of the 15 dried apricot and two of the 20 dried date samples was contaminated with OTA at the 2.8 and 2.5 ng/g Level ( Table 2), which was below the maximum tolerance accepted by the European Commission (10 ng/g) [12].…”

“…However, no maximum limit is set by the Iranian project of mycotoxin regulations for OTA in dried fruits. Although different extraction and detection techniques were used, similar incidence rate of OTA in dried figs have been reported by Bircan [15] (18% with a maximum concentration of 24.37 ng/g), and Senyuva et al [16] from (14% and 15%; with a maximum concentration of 26 ng/g). However, some author have reported lower incidence rates of OTA in dried figs, such as 3% [17] and 0.1% -0.6% [18], whereas Guler and Heperkan [19] (48%), Zinedine et al [20] (65%), Lamanaka et al [21] (95%) reported much higher occurrences of OTA in dried figs.…”

Validation of a UHPLC-FLD analytical method for the simultaneous quantification of aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin a in rat plasma, liver and kidney

“…First, the same food might be contaminated by more than one mycotoxin as the co-occurrence of AFB1 and OTA in edible products has been demonstrated; some examples are in dried fruits and figs [12], in paprika [13,14], and in breakfast cereals [15]. Moreover, since the human diet is varied, mycotoxins might reach humans from different pathways; and, finally, mycotoxins are thermostable and can remain in food even after the fungus has been removed [1].…”

Aflatoxins: Contamination, Analysis and Control

“…Shenasi et al (2002) detected aflatoxins in 12% of the samples at twenty-five varieties of dates (Phoenix dactylifera) although aflatoxigenic Aspergillus were detected in 40% of the varieties examined. Bircan (2009) tested aflatoxin contamination in 98 dried figs analyzed for OTA to determine the co-occurrence of both toxins. Seven samples were confirmed aflatoxin positive, in the range of 0.23-4.28 ng g -1 and only 2 samples contained both toxins, with a maximum concentration of 24.37 ng g -1 for OTA and 1.02 ng g -1 for AFB1.…”