Residue of ochratoxin A in swine tissues: Risk assessment

Abstract

Background: Samples of blood, kidney, and liver per animal were randomly selected from slaughtered pigs (n=60) and analyzed for ochratoxin A. Methods: Determination of ochratoxin A concentration in samples of kidney and liver was performed by high-performance thinlayer chromatography after immunoaffnity column clean up, while for plasma samples, a spectrofluorometric procedure was used. Results: Of the 60 plasma samples, 60% contained ochratoxin A in the range of 2.5-33.3 ng/mL (mean 3.05±5.0 ng/mL), while the incidence of ochratoxin A in kidneys and liver were very similar (70% and 65%). The average ochratoxin A concentration in liver was 3.2±4.35 ng/g (1.2-19.5 ng/g) and in kidneys was 3.97±4.47 ng/g (1.3-22.0 ng/g). A statistically significant difference (p<0.01) was found between region Bačka Topola and Kovilj for both liver and kidney samples. In kidney samples originating from region Kovilj and Senta, a statistically significant difference (p<0.01) was found. Mean distribution followed the pattern: kidney>liver>serum (100>80.8>77%). The results from this survey indicated that there was a strong correlation between the ochratoxin A level in serum and liver as well as in the ochratoxin A serum in kidney (r=0.884 and r=0.896, respectively) while the strongest correlation was found between the ochratoxin A level in liver and in kidney (r=0.970). Conclusion: The results of present study show that pork tissues as well as pork products are considered an important source of ochratoxin A in humans.

Keywords

• Ochratoxins
• Aspergillus ochraceus
• Tissues
• Swine
• Mytotoxins