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Influencing factors on bread-derived exposure to ochratoxin A: type, origin and composition
Publication . Duarte, S.C.; Bento, J.M.V.; Pena, A.; Lino, C.M.; Delerue-Matos, Cristina; Oliveira, Beatriz; Alves, M. Rui; Pereira, J.A.
The nearly ubiquitous consumption of cereals all over the world renders them an important position in
international nutrition, but concurrently allocates exposure to possible contained contaminants. Mycotoxins
are natural food contaminants, difficult to predict, evade, and reduce, so it is important to establish
the real contribution of each contaminated food product, with the aim to evaluate mycotoxin exposure.
This was the key objective of this survey and analysis for ochratoxin A content on 274 samples of commercialized
bread in the Portuguese market, during the winter 2007. Different bread products were analyzed
through an HPLC-FD method, including traditional types, novel segments, and different grain based
bread products. A wide-ranging low level contamination was observed in all regions and types of bread
products analyzed, especially in the Porto and Coimbra regions, and in the maize and whole-grain or
fiber-enriched bread. Nevertheless, the exposure through contaminated wheat bread continues to be
the most significant, given its high consumption and dominance in relation to the other types of bread.
Monitoring of ochratoxin a exposure of the Portuguese population through a nationwide urine survey – Winter 2007
Publication . Duarte, S.C.; Bento, J.M.V.; Pena, A.; Lino, C.M.; Delerue-Matos, Cristina; Oliva-Teles, T.; Morais, S.; Correia, Manuela; Oliveira, Beatriz; Alves, M. Rui; Pereira, J.A.
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by a variety of fungi, such as Penicillium verrucosum and
Aspergillium spp., which has been found to have a wide number of potentially deadly toxic effects, and
can enter the human organism through a variety of means. It then finds its way into the bloodstream and,
after a lengthy process, is eventually excreted through the urine. It can thus be detected in its original form
not only in blood samples but also in this biological medium. As such, and in an attempt to evaluate the
exposure of the Portuguese population to this mycotoxin, morning urine samples were collected during the
Winter of 2007, from each of five geographically distinct Portuguese locations — Bragança, Porto, Coimbra,
Alentejo, and Algarve — and subjected to extraction by immunoaffinity columns and to OTA quantification
through liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection. Prevalent incidence was higher than
95% with Coimbra being the exception (incidence of 73.3%). In nearly all locations, the OTA content of most
samples was found to be above the limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.008 ng/ml. Indeed, excluding Coimbra,
with an OTA content level of 0.014 ng/ml, all regions featured content values over 0.021 ng/ml.
Determination of ochratoxin. A content in wheat bread samples collected from the Algarve and Bragança regions, Portugal: Winter 2007
Publication . Bento, J.M.V.; Pena, A.; Lino, C.M.; Pereira, J.A.
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by fungi such as Penicillium verrucosum and Aspergillium spp.
and has been found to have a variety of potentially deadly toxic effects. The favoured substrate for fungal
growth and OTA production appears to be cereals and flour-based products, including bread. Due to the
dietary relevance of bread for the Portuguese population, it is imperative that its OTA content remains well
within safe quantities. As such, bread samples collected from commercial surfaces across the Algarve region
and from the city of Bragança during the winter of 2007 were tested for OTA through extraction with
immunoaffinity columns and quantification by liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection.
Although OTA content was found to be above the limit of quantification in approximately 60% and 50% of the
analysed samples from Algarve and Bragança, respectively, all samples were found to be compliant with
European Commission. OTA content reached maximums of 0.49 ng/g in Algarve and 0.43 ng/g in Bragança,
and was thus below the maximum limit established by European legislation for bread of 3 ng/g. The results of
the present study put the estimated daily intake of OTA from bread at approximately 0.26 ng/kg bw/day in
Algarve and 0.38 ng/kg bw/day in Bragança, circa 1.5% and 2.0% of the TDI established by either the EFSA or
the FAO/WHO, or over 4.5% and 6.5% if we consider the FAO/WHO advised bread consumption of 250 g/day.
These results seem to suggest that, in these two Portuguese regions, OTA contamination is well under control
and unlikely to represent a threat to consumer health.
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Funding agency
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Funding programme
5876-PPCDTI
Funding Award Number
PTDC/AGR-ALI/65528/2006