In vineyards the presence of certain fungi may lead to the production of the mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) and subsequent contamination of grapes and wine. Furthermore, winery wastewaters contaminated with OTA may represent an environmental hazard. Therefore, it is imperative to assess the fate of this mycotoxin in conventional wastewater treatment systems. The aim of the present work was to ass...

A monoclonal antibody specific to ochratoxin B (OTB) was employed for the development of an indirect competitive OTB-ELISA. The optimized OTB-ELISA resulted in a limit of detection (LOD) for OTB of 3 µg/L (8 nM), a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 3.7 µg/L (10 nM), and a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of 150 nM. Due to very low cross-reactivity to OTA (2.7%) and structurally related mole...

Monoclonal antibodies against ochratoxin B (OTB) were generated by immunizing Balb/c mice with OTB conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) via carbodiimide reactions with CHMC and EDAC. A stable hybridoma cell line 2F1.E10 was produced by fusion of murine splenocytes and myeloma cells. The obtained antibodies were characterized using an indirect competitive ELISA. The detection limit was ...

Pu-erh tea originates from the province of Yunnan in south-western China. As this tea is produced by so called Aspergillus post-fermentation the question arises which molds and mycotoxins may be found in this tea. In total 36 samples of Pu-erh tea were investigated for their content of filamentous fungi and the mycotoxins aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2, fumonisins B1, B2, and B3, and ochratoxin ...

The safety of food and feed depends to a great deal on quality control. Numerous compounds and organisms may contaminate food and feed commodities and thus pose a health risk for consumers. The compound of interest in this review is ochratoxin A (OTA), a secondary metabolite of the fungi Aspergillus and Penicillium. Due to its adverse health effects, detection and quantification are of utmost i...

270 samples of different types of pasta and cereal products, distributed in a nursery school canteen in Milan (Italy), were analyzed to estimate the occurrence of ochratoxin A. OTA was found in all analyzed samples (100%), 39 samples exceeded the maximum limit established by European Commission Regulation for OTA in the foodstuffs listed in the relevant category. The mean concentration of ochra...

Mycotoxins food contamination represents a serious risk for consumers health. They are 12 secondary metabolites of fungi that can be present in a wide range of foodstuffs. Ochratoxin A 13 (OTA) is one of the most toxic compound and it is classified as a possible carcinogenic molecule. 14 The harmful effects of OTA on human and animal health lead to a big boost to develop and 15 optimize highly ...