A Simple Summary of ochratoxin

Ochratoxin is a kind of mycotoxin discovered by a research group in South Africa and is a carcinogenic substance.

Reported ochratoxin producers include genus Aspergillus, Aspergilluso chraceus in particular, and Penicillium such as Penicillium viridicatum. These ochratoxin producers are widely distributed in foods such as cereals.

Six metabolites are known to be the toxic components of ochratoxin, and usually ochratoxin A is viewed as the problem because its toxicity in animals is more potent than the other metabolites.

Summary of analysis method

In this method, ochratoxin A in grains is extracted with acetonitrile/water/acetic acid (84:16:1), purified with a multifunctional cleanup (MFC) column, and quantitated by a liquid chromatograph with post-column alkalization and a fluorescence detector.

Ochratoxin A can be detected sensitively because its fluorescence intensity increases under alkaline conditions.

Another important method to detect ochratoxin A would be the immunoassay.