Occurrence, Health Risks and Methods of Analysis for Aflatoxins and
Ochratoxin
A
W. A. Awad
, K. Ghareeb
and J. Böhm
Abstract
The most frequent toxigenic fungi in the Europe are Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium
species. They produce aflatoxin B1 transformed into aflatoxin M1 found in the milk, as well
as Ochratoxins and Zearalenone, Fumonisin B1, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin and deoxynivalenol
(vomitoxin), which are of increasing concern in human health. These mycotoxins are under
continuous survey in the Europe, but the regulatory aspects still need to be set up and/or
harmonised at the European level. They are found in foodstuffs and are not destroyed by
normal industrial processing or cooking since they are heat-stable. Some of their metabolites
are still toxic and may be involved in human diseases. Their toxic effects (liver, kidney and
haematopoietic toxicity, immune toxicity, foetal toxicity, teratogenicity, and mainly
carcinogenicity) are mostly known in experimental models. Chemical assays are of major
importance for the determination of mycotoxins. Generally, all chemical methods for the
analysis of mycotoxins include the basic steps of extraction, clean-up, separation, detection,
quantification and confirmation of identity. The various approaches that exist for the
determination of nephrotoxic mycotoxins, and in particular the ochratoxins are discussed
below. This paper gives an overview of chromatographic methods used for the determination
of aflatoxin and ochratoxin A (OA) in animal and human tissues and fluids. These methods
are needed for monitoring studies of OA occurrence in the food chain and for studies dealing
with the OA carry-over. The review includes sampling, sample storage, extraction, spiking
procedures, clean-up, detection and determination, and confirmation procedures.
Key Words: Reviews; Occurrence, Sample preparation; Health risk,
Ochratoxins; Aflatoxins; Mycotoxins. |