Ochratoxin A in wines and evaluation of consumer exposure

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to assess the incidence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in wines, as well as the risk of human exposure to this toxin. The estimate of OTA content was by means of high-performance liquid chromatography based method. Thirty-eight samples were analyzed, from which 27 red wines, 7 white wines, two rosé wines, and two fortified wines. Samples were grouped into domestic and imported wines. Mathematical equations were used to assess the aggregate exposure, seeking to evaluate the human risk to OTA. The detection limits and OTA estimate were around 0.16 and 0.56μg.kg-1 respectively. About 36.84% of samples showed OTA contamination, all of them imported. From these samples, about 85.71% showed levels of OTA contamination less than 2μg.L-1. Results indicate that the consumption of analyzed wines does not imply OTA contamination for the population under study