T. Vrabcheva et al., Co-occurrence of ochratoxin A and citrinin in cereals from Bulgarian villages with a history of Balkan endemic nephropathy, J AGR FOOD, 48(6), 2000, pp. 2483-2488
Cereal samples were collected in 1998 from Bulgarian villages without [cont
rol village (C), n=20] or with [endemic villages (E); E1, n. = 21; E2, n =
30; E3, n. = 23] a history of Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN). Sampling in
cluded foods (wheat, corn) and feeds (barley, oats, wheat bran). Analysis o
f ochratoxin A and citrinin was done by enzyme immunoassays (ELA), with det
ection limits of 0.5 and 5 ng/g, respectively. Ochratoxin A-positive result
s were confirmed by HPLC after immunoaffinity chromatography. Highest toxin
levels were found in wheat, wheat bran, and oats. For ochratoxin A, the pe
rcentages of positives were 35% (C), 29% (E1), 30% (E2), and 47% (E3), the
mean/median values of positives were 1.5/1.3 ng/g (C), 11/1.6 ng/g (E1), 18
/1.6 ng/g (E2), and 3.5/ 1.5 ng/g (E3), For citrinin, 5.0% (C), 14% (E1), 3
.3% (E2), and 13% (E3) were positive, and the mean/ median values were 6.1/
6.1 ng/g (C), 180/83 ng/g (E1), 10/10 ng/g (E2), and 84/20 ng/g (E3). Highe
st concentrations of ochratoxin (maximum = 140 ng/g) and citrinin (maximum
= 420 ng/g) were found in samples from endemic villages. Co-contamination w
ith ochratoxin A and citrinin was found for one sample (14% of positives) f
rom village C and for six samples (22% of positives) from villages E1-E3. C
itrinin levels in these samples were 2-200 times higher than those of ochra
toxin A.