Ochratoxin A determination in ham by immunoaffinity clean-up and a quick fluorometric method

Abstract

A simple and rapid method for the determination of ochratoxin A (OA) in ham was developed using a basic methanolic extraction, immunoaffinity column clean-up and a fluorometric determination of the toxin contamination levels. A mean recovery of OA from ham samples spiked at levels from 0.7 to 9.7 microg kg(-1) was 83 +/- 6% using the fluorometric method, with a detection limit of 0.7 microg kg(-1). Recovery data were compared statistically with those obtained using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with acetonitrile-water-acetic acid (99:99:2) as mobile phase and fluorescence detection, commonly used for OA determination in food. A good correlation between the two analytical techniques was obtained. Both methods were successfully applied to 42 ham samples, 21 in the middle of the ripening period (after 6 months from the process beginning) and the other 21 at the end of the maturation, after 12 months. Twenty-seven samples (64%) showed an OA contamination level <1.0 microg kg(-1), the Italian Ministry of Health guideline. The maximum contamination level found was 2.3 microg kg(-1). A good agreement (R(2) = 0.980) between HPLC and fluorometer analysis on naturally contaminated samples was obtained.

A survey of ochratoxin A contamination in feeds and sera from organic and standard swine farms in northwest Italy

“…3 OTA has been detected in pigs with a tissue distribution that follows the pattern blood > kidney > liver > muscle > adipose tissue. 4 -6 Studies have shown that pork products, especially sausages and products that include blood and kidneys, may contain OTA 7,8 and that production procedures such as seasoning and storage have no effect on the reduction of OTA levels. 9 Human intake and absorption of OTA have been confirmed through the detection of OTA residues in human blood serum, milk and kidney.…”

Espectrofluorimetria comparada à cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência na detecção de ocratoxina A em café

“…Os teores de OTA obtidos por CLAE variaram de 9,21 -41,20 ng/g, em relação a 3,50 -18,36 ng/g por espectrofluorimetria (Tabela 1), obtendo-se relação média espectrofluorimetria/CLAE de 0,45 e coeficiente de correlação (r) de 0,79 (Figura 2). Chiavaro et al (2002) obtiveram correlação de 0,98 entre CLAE e fluorimetria na análise de OTA em presunto, utilizando coluna de imunoafinidade na limpeza de amostras. A recuperação de OTA por fluorimetria foi de 82,9 % em amostras artificialmente contaminadas com 0,7 a 9,7 µg/Kg, evidenciando a eficácia da técnica.…”

Application of nanotechnology in detection of mycotoxins and in agricultural sector

“…OTA contaminations have been reported in cereals, coffee, wines, dried fruits and animal feeds Zimmerli and Dick, 1996). Instrumental methods for the analysis of OTA use mainly chromatographic based technique (Turner et al, 2009) mostly high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) assisted with molecular fluorescence detection (FLD) (Chiavaro et al, 2002;Shephard et al, 2003). Chromatographic methods require multiple sample preparation steps prior to detection (Chung et al, 2007).…”