Natural Occurrence of Ochratoxin A Contamination in Commercial Black and White Pepper Products

The concentration of ochratoxin A (OTA) in 120 commercial pepper (84 pre-packed and 36 bulk samples), which consist of local and imported white and black pepper in powder and seed form in Malaysia were determined. The objective of the study was to investigate and compare OTA concentration in black pepper and white pepper being commercialized in Malaysia. Determination method was based on HPLC with fluorescence detection coupled with immunoaffinity column clean-up step. Mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile–water–acetic acid (49.5:49.5:1.0, v/v/v), and flow rate was 1 ml/min. The LOD was 0.02 ng/g, and the average recovery values of OTA ranged from 79.5 to 92.0% in black pepper and 81.2–90.3% in white pepper. A total of 57 samples (47.5%) were contaminated with OTA ranging from 0.15 to 13.58 ng/g. The results showed that there was a significant difference between type of pepper and brands. OTA concentration in black pepper was significantly higher than white pepper (p < 0.05). The highest concentration of ochratoxin, 13.58 ng/g, was detected in a sample of black pepper seed followed by 12.64 ng/g in a sample of black pepper powder, both were bulk samples purchased from open market.

[1]  R. Manderville,et al.  Ochratoxin A: An overview on toxicity and carcinogenicity in animals and humans. , 2007, Molecular nutrition & food research.

[2]  C. V. Van Peteghem,et al.  Approach for ochratoxin A fast screening in spices using clean-up tandem immunoassay columns with confirmation by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). , 2006, Analytica chimica acta.

[3]  G. Reddy,et al.  Production of polyclonal antibodies against ochratoxin A and its detection in chilies by ELISA. , 2000, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[4]  K. Hult,et al.  Ochratoxin A in cow's milk and in human milk with corresponding human blood samples. , 1993, Journal of AOAC International.

[5]  Carlo Brera,et al.  Natural occurrence of mycotoxins in cereals and spices commercialized in Morocco , 2006 .

[6]  M. Palma,et al.  Investigation on Ochratoxin A stability using different extraction techniques. , 2007, Talanta.

[7]  A. Pfohl-Leszkowicz,et al.  Ochratoxin A and Aristolochic Acid Involvement in Nephropathies and Associated Urothelial Tract Tumours , 2009, Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju.

[8]  T. Vrabcheva,et al.  Balkan endemic nephropathy: role of ochratoxins A through biomarkers. , 2006, Molecular nutrition & food research.

[9]  M. Castegnaro,et al.  Advantages and drawbacks of immunoaffinity columns in analysis of mycotoxins in food. , 2006, Molecular nutrition & food research.

[10]  B Zimmerli,et al.  Determination of ochratoxin A at the ppt level in human blood, serum, milk and some foodstuffs by high-performance liquid chromatography with enhanced fluorescence detection and immunoaffinity column cleanup: methodology and Swiss data. , 1995, Journal of chromatography. B, Biomedical applications.

[11]  J. H. Al-Jedah,et al.  Mycotoxins in food products available in Qatar , 2004 .

[12]  B. Fazekas,et al.  Aflatoxin and ochratoxin A content of spices in Hungary , 2005, Food additives and contaminants.

[13]  K. Maaroufi,et al.  Incidence of aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and zearalenone in tunisian foods , 2008 .

[14]  S. Al-Bahry,et al.  Fungi and aflatoxins associated with spices in the Sultanate of Oman , 2004, Mycopathologia.

[15]  C. Lino,et al.  Determination of ochratoxin A in Portuguese rice samples by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection , 2005, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[16]  Gopal Reddy,et al.  Occurrence of ochratoxin A in black pepper, coriander, ginger and turmeric in India , 2001, Food additives and contaminants.

[17]  K. Hult,et al.  Plasma ochratoxin A levels in three Swedish populations surveyed using an ion-pair HPLC technique. , 1991, Food additives and contaminants.