The occurrence of ochratoxin A in coffee

Abstract

Abstract--Ochratoxin A (OA) is a nephrotoxic and nephrocarcinogenic mycotoxin which is predominantly produced by the two ubiquitous fungal genera, Aspergillus and Penicillium. OA is found in foodstuffs, predominantly in cereals but also in coffee beans. Inconsistent results have been published regarding the influence of roasting on the OA content in roasted beans and the transfer into the coffee brew. In the present study an HPLC method was used for the detection of OA in green and roasted coffee beans as well as in the coffee brew. For qualitative confirmation and quantification of low OA levels in roasted coffee beans and coffee brew an additional clean-up step by immunoaffinity column was applied before HPLC analysis. In green coffee beans OA was detected in 13 out of 25 commercial samples analysed (detection limit, 0.5/~g OA/kg). Roasting (250°C, 150 sec) of naturally contaminated green beans or beans inoculated with A. ochraceus resulted only in a small reduction in the OA level. OA was also found to be eluted into the brew. Of 40 coffee brews prepared from commercially available samples OA was detected in 18 brews by HPLC and/or additional immunoaffinity column clean-up in the range of 0.4 to 7.8 pg OA/kg equivalent ground coffee. Our preliminary results suggest, therefore, that regular coffee consumption may contribute to exposure of humans to OA.

Kinetic parameters and intraindividual fluctuations of ochratoxin A plasma levels in humans

“…Thus, the calculated daily intake is 95 ng/person or 1.53 ng/kg body weight (f approximately 80%, based on the human volunteer in this study with a body weight of 62 kg), which is very well in line with the daily intake calculated from food consumption data and the respective concentrations found in food items (80±160 ng) (DFG 1990;Studer-Rohr et al 1995). However, considering the potential di erences between pigs and humans with regard also to OTA plasma protein binding it may well be that the organ distribution is substantially di erent between these species.…”

“…The daily intake of OTA in humans via food can be calculated based on a relatively good database concerning OTA concentration in food items (DFG 1990;RuÈ hl et al 1992;Studer-Rohr et al 1995). However, at present human cancer risk evaluation based on extrapolation from animal data is di cult, as large species di erences are known to exist; for example, plasma halflives determined in various species range from 0.68 h in ®sh to 510 h in monkeys (Hagelberg et al 1989;Li et al 1997).…”

Mycotoxin Contamination of Beverages: Occurrence of Patulin in Apple Juice and Ochratoxin A in Coffee, Beer and Wine and Their Control Methods

“…The first report on the occurrence of OTA in coffee appeared in 1974 [98]. Since then, several reports have confirmed the presence of OTA in green coffee beans [99][100][101][102], roasted coffee [103,104] and instant coffee [105,106]. OTA has also been detected in the final coffee brew prepared under normal methods [107].…”

Development and validation of a method for the analysis of Ochratoxin A in roasted coffee by liquid chromatography/electrospray-mass spectrometry in Tandem (LC/ESI-MS/MS)

“…[2][3][4][5][6] This mycotoxin has been found in food commodities such as cereals, oleaginous seeds, wine, meat, cocoa, spices, dried fruits, grapes, beer, green, roasted and instant coffee. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Once OTA is formed, it survives in most of food-processing steps, such as cooking, fermenting and roasting, as in the case of coffee beans. Roasted coffee produces the most different results in terms of OTA stability, since losses were reported in the range of 0-100%.…”