On ochratoxin A and fungal flora in Polish cereals from conventional and ecological farms - Part 1: Occurrence of ochratoxin A and fungi in cereals in 1997

• Published in: Food additives and contaminants Vol. 19; no. 5; pp. 470 - 477
• Main Authors: Czerwiecki, L., Czajkowska, D., Witkowska-Gwiazdowska, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis Group 01.05.2002; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Aspergillus - isolation & purification; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinogens - analysis; Cereal and baking product industries; Cereal Grain; Conventional And Ecological Farming; Edible Grain - chemistry; Edible Grain - microbiology; Food Contamination - analysis; Food industries; Food toxicology; Food, Organic - analysis; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungal Flora; Humans; Milk and cheese industries. Ice creams; Mycotoxins - analysis; Ochratoxin A; Ochratoxins - analysis; Penicillium - isolation & purification; Poland; Poland; Europe; Toxin; Ochratoxin; Surveillance; Organic agriculture; Occurrence frequency; Mycotoxin; Cropping system; Conventional agriculture; Cereal; Mould; Biological contamination; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0265-203X; 1464-5122
• DOI: 10.1080/02652030110113726

Over 200 samples of Polish cereal grain from the 1997 harvest obtained from conventional and ecological farms were tested for the presence of ochratoxin A as well as for contamination by microscopic fungi. Ochratoxin A contamination of rye from ecological farms was over six times more frequent than that from conventional cultivation. The ochratoxin A content in wheat and barley samples from ecological farms was also higher. No wheat sample from conventional farms contained the mycotoxin. In the group of ecological farms, there were differences in the percentage of cereal samples containing ochratoxin A. The ochratoxin A levels ranged from 0.2 to 57 µg kg −1 . The mean concentration of ochratoxin A in investigated cereal grain was 5.7 µg kg −1 . From samples containing detectable amounts of ochratoxin A, fungi producing ochratoxin A under laboratory conditions were isolated. They were classified as belonging to the species Penicillium cyclopium, P. viridicatum, P. chrysogenum and also Aspergillus alliaceus, A. versicolor, A. glaucus and A. flavus. Penicillium strains-producers of ochratoxin A-were isolated from 93% of the samples; in 7% of samples, only Aspergillus strains producing this mycotoxin were noted. Rye samples mainly from one farm with an ecological type of cultivation and from one conventional farm were contaminated with both Aspergillus and Penicillium mycotoxigenic strains.