Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in flour: a survey of the Serbian retail market

ABSTRACT

This report presents data on the occurrence of aflatoxins (AF) and ochratoxin A in different types of flour marketed in Serbia. A total of 114 samples of wheat, buckwheat, rye, oat, barley, rice, millet and corn flour were collected in the period 2012–2016 and analysed using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Among flours other than corn, AFB1 was quantified only in rice, while ochratoxin A (OTA) was found in 29% of the samples. In corn flours the percentage of positive samples varied greatly over the years: AFB1 7.1–80.0%, OTA 30.0–40.6%, with a co-occurrence of 7.1–34.4%. Overall 5.2% of flours other than corn and 10.7% of corn flours exceeded the maximum levels (MLs) for AFB1 and/or OTA. The highest recorded levels were 8.80 μg kg⁻¹ of AFB1 (corn) and 23.04 μg kg⁻¹ of OTA (rye). Overall mean contamination levels of corn flours were 0.53 μg kg⁻¹ of AFB1 and 0.46 μg kg⁻¹ of OTA.

KEYWORDS:

• Ochratoxin A
• aflatoxins
• cereal products
• flour

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.