Occurrence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in rice samples from six provinces in China

6 In this study, a total of 370 rice samples collected from six provinces in China were 7 surveyed for the presence of aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxin A (OTA) using 8 dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled to liquid chromatography with 9 fluorescence detection. The results obtained in this survey showed that 63.5% 10 (235/370) and 4.9% (18/370) of rice samples contained detectable amounts of AFs 11 and OTA, respectively. The average levels of AFB1, total AFs and OTA in positive 12 samples were 0.60, 0.65 and 0.85 μg/kg, respectively. AFB1 and AFB2 were present in 13 samples from all six provinces and could be quantified in 87 and 32 samples, 14 respectively. OTA was present in samples from four provinces and could be quantified 15 in 6 samples. The percentages of rice samples with AFB1 and OTA levels above the 16 EU limit were 1.4% (5/370) and 0.3% (1/370), respectively. The results show that the 17 levels of the mycotoxins in rice are below regulatory limits and the rice commodities 18 are generally safe. It also indicates the need to establish a continuous monitoring 19 program to prevent and manage the occurrence of these contaminants. 20 Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 20 8528 4925; fax: +86 20 8528 0293. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C.L. Liu) M AN US CR IP T AC CE PT ED ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2