Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A: occurrence and contamination levels in cocoa beans from Brazil |
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Authors: | Polyane Novais Pires Eugênia Azevedo Vargas Mateus Batista Gomes Caroline Brasil Melo Vieira Eliene Alves dos Santos Ana Angélica Cangussu Bicalho |
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Affiliation: | 1. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Campus Soane Nazaré de Andrade, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazilpoly_novais@yahoo.com.br;3. Laboratório de Controle de Qualidade e Seguran?a Alimentar (LACQSA), Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil |
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Abstract: | In the present study, the occurrence of aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxin A (OTA) was evaluated in 123 samples of cocoa beans produced in five Brazilian states. The presence of these mycotoxins was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) after immunoaffinity column clean-up. The mean level of total AFs in cocoa beans samples was 5.7 μg.kg?1. Four (3.3%) samples exceeded the maximum limit of 10 μg.kg?1 established by the Brazilian legislation for total AFs. The mean level of OTA contamination was 1.2 μg.kg?1, and none of the samples exceeded the maximum limit established by the Brazilian legislation. The co-occurrence of AFs and OTA was observed in 4.9% of the samples. The results of the present study demonstrated that, in relation to the levels of AFs and OTA established by the Brazilian legislation, most samples of cocoa beans analyzed are safe for consumption. This is the first report on the occurrence and levels of AFs and OTA in cocoa beans from the five main Brazilian states producing cocoa. The data in this study provide important information for farmers, traders, industry, consumers and law enforcement agencies. |
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Keywords: | Mycotoxins aflatoxins ochratoxin A cocoa beans co-occurrence method validation |
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