Original scientific paper
ECOLOGICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH RISK ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRESENCE OF OCHRATOXIN A IN BARLEY
Marija Štefanac
; ZZJZ „Dr. Andrija Štampar“, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Jasna Bošnir
; ZZJZ „Dr. Andrija Štampar“, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Dinko Puntarić
; ZZJZ „Dr. Andrija Štampar“, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Aleksandar Racz
; Zdravstveno veleučilište, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) is still drawing increased attention as an environmental disease. “The mycotoxin hypothesis” explains the BEN as a product of ochratoxin A ingestion in small intermittent amounts. The aim of the paper is to determine and compare the presence and concentration of ochratoxin A in barley samples taken in three different areas of Slavonia, Croatia: the surroundings of Slavonski Brod, considered an endemic region with respect to Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN), the surroundings of Osijek, a region where only sporadic cases of BEN have been reported, and the surroundings of Nova Gradiška, a non-endemic, BEN-free region. Thin-layer chromatography was used to determine ochratoxin A concentrations in 120 barley samples: 20 from each region sampled during 2007 and 2008 harvests. Ochratoxin A was present in 100% barley samples from the Slavonski Brod area, within concentration range from 20 to 25 μg/kg (2007 harvest) and from 10 to 20 μg/kg (2008 harvest), while, on the other hand, ochratoxin was not detected in any of the samples from the Nova Gradiška area. Unexpectedly, ochratoxin was also present in all 20 barley samples from the Osijek area within concentration range from 10 to 20 μg/kg (2007 harvest). A statistically significant difference was observed between the Slavonski Brod samples and all other barley samples (p < 0.001), which can be explained by geographical overlapping, but not as the unquestionable etiological evidence that still remains to be proved.
Keywords
barley; ochratoxin A; Balkan endemic nephropathy; ethiology
Hrčak ID:
52247
URI
Publication date:
10.3.2010.
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