Stability of cyclopiazonic acid during storage and processing of milk

The effect of refrigerated storage (4°C) of raw or processed milk on the stability of cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) in milk was investigated. CPA decreased by 1.4% following 4 days of simulating collecting, storing and transporting of contaminated (1 μg CPA ml^?1) raw milk. Storage at 4°C for 21 days, simulating retail milk, moderately reduced the CPA level by 5.8%. A similar trend of CPA decrease was observed in frozen and freeze dried milk stored at ?18°C. However, in both products, less than 12% of CPA decreased in spite of a storage period of 140 days. The effect of processing milk on component separation of CPA was also studied. Simulating unsweetened condensed milk production by preheating 4 l contaminated milk to 100°C and concentrating under steam injection to 1.5 l led to a decrease of CPA by 39.7%. In contrast, very little CPA (0.7%) was lost from the production of evaporated milk using low temperature (60°C) heating under vacuum to remove water. CPA was stable in both concentrated and evaporated milks throughout an 8 weeks storage period at 4°C. There was no decrease of CPA during the manufacturing of milk powder by spray drying. Persistence of CPA during the above milk storage and processing methods confirmed the potential of CPA to reach consumers of dairy products when the mycotoxin was carried over into processed milks.