A simple HPLC method for the determination of the mycotoxins ochratoxin A and B in blood serum of swine

This paper presents a simple method for the determination of ochratoxins A (OTA) and B (OTB) in pig blood serum. The method includes serum acidificati on (pH < 1.6) and precipitation of protein with 15% trichloroacetic acid, l iquid partitioning with dichloromethane and fluorescence detection. The est imated detection limits were 0.1 ng OTA/ml and 0.2 ng OTB/ml. The mean reco veries from artificially contaminated samples (n = 6 replicates/mycotoxin) spiked at 0.3, 1 and 3 ng OTA and OTB/ml, respectively, were 86.8% (s.d. = 8.4) for OTA and 90.0% (s.d. = 9.8) for OTB. Forty-nine Romanian pig blood serum samples (94% of 52 analysed) were found to be naturally contaminated with OTA in the range 0.1-13.4 ng/ml. No sample was found positive for OTB. The method is technically simple, specific, cost effective, suitable for l arge sample throughput and requires small amount of sample and reagents. It fulfils the criteria for a routine method and could be a suitable tool for surveying OTA in pig herds and in slaughtered pigs.