Quantification and health risk assessment of ochratoxin A in dried fruit, spices, and coffee

Abstract

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a stable toxin produced by fungal strains of Aspergillus and Penicillium. It is commonly found in a variety of food products, including dried fruit, coffee, and spices, raising concerns about their safety. This study was aimed to quantify OTA levels in different food products using HPLC with fluorescence detection. The pre-treatment process was optimised by employing immunoaffinity columns with Tween 20 to effectively remove interfering substances. An analytical method was developed, validated, and applied for OTA analysis in dried fruit, spices, and coffee samples. The validation procedure included determining detection and quantification limits, linearity, precision, and accuracy, as per the criteria specified by AOAC International. The validated method was successfully applied for OTA analysis in the selected food samples. Furthermore, health risk assessment was conducted based on the average intake and body weight of the Korean population. From the results, concentrations of OTA in the samples were found to be very low and therefore concluded not to pose significant threats to consumer health.

Keywords:

• Dried foods
• health risk assessment
• HPLC with fluorescence detection
• ochratoxin A
• quantification

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support provided by Yong Eui Koo and Young-Woon Kang (National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Cheongju, Korea) for their help and insights throughout this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety [grant number 21162MFDS009; 2021] and the World Institute of Kimchi (funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea; grant number KE2202-1).