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Abstract
The results of surveillance for ochratoxin A (OTA) in 1885 samples of sultanas taken during five crop years between 1999 and 2003 are reported. The analytical method was based on extraction with methanol + sodium bicarbonate and clean-up by immunoaffinity column chromatography followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The limit of detection for OTA was 0.3 µg kg−1. The results show that 9.3% of the samples contained no detectable levels of OTA, whereas 0.6% had concentrations exceeding 10 µg kg−1; the remaining 90.3% had levels within the range 0.3–10 µg kg−1. The overall mean OTA concentration in the total number of 1885 samples taken was 1.36 ± 2.91 µg kg−1; the overall median was calculated as 0.90 µg kg−1.