Occurrence of ochratoxin A in roasted coffee samples commercialized in Portugal

Ana Júlia Benites, Marlene Fernandes, Ana Rita Boleto, Sandra Azevedo, Sandra D. Silva, Ana Lúcia Leitão

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin with nephrotoxic, teratogenic, carcinogenic and immunotoxic properties that can frequently be found in ground roasted coffee. The aim of the present study was to assess the presence of ochratoxin A in arabica and robusta ground roasted coffee from several countries, as well as determine the levels of this mycotoxin contamination in roasted coffee commercialized in Portugal. It was also performed a laboratory validation method for the analysis of OTA in coffee using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD). Recoveries of OTA from ground roasted coffee spiked samples ranged between 95.5 and 109.8%. The limits of detection and quantification in coffee were 0.266 and 0.500 μg/kg, respectively. The result on OTA contamination indicates that there were slight differences between arabica and robusta coffee samples from different origins. The mean of ochratoxin A contamination detected in the coffee from Portuguese market was 1.84 and 1.45 μg/kg for roasted and ground roasted coffee, respectively; while, a maximum of 10.31 μg/kg was found. These results demonstrate how important is the purpose of monitoring and evaluation of OTA levels in coffee, since this mycotoxin is widely distributed in food and up to now without successful methodologies to prevent coffee contamination.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1223-1228
Number of pages6
JournalFood Control
Volume73
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2017

Keywords

  • Arabica
  • Ochratoxin A
  • Origins
  • Portuguese market
  • Roasted coffee
  • Robusta

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