Original scientific paper
THE EXPOSURE OF GENERAL POPULATION IN CROATIA TO OCHRATOXIN A
Maja Peraica
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Ana-Marija Domijan
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Dubravka Flajs
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada, Zagreb, Hrvatska
D. Ivić
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Bogdan Cvjetković
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
The exposure of general population in Croatia to ochratoxin A (OTA) was checked in several studies by measuring its concentration either in food samples or in human blood. The concentration of OTA in food and the frequency of OTA-positive samples show high variability from year to year according to the meteorological conditions. Regional variability in OTA contamination of cereals, wine and beans is also significant. However, while higher OTA concentrations and higher number of OTA-positive samples of cereals and beans are found in the northern part of Croatia, wine from the southern part of Croatia contains higher OTA concentrations. These differences are due to the distribution of different moulds, producers of OTA that specifically contaminate various commodities. However, a large-scale study performed on plasma from five Croatian cities collected four times a year showed a higher mean OTA concentration during the summer. The most exposed are citizens of Osijek, because there was no OTA-free sample collected in this town, and the frequency of samples containing the highest OTA concentration was significantly higher than in other cities.
Keywords
fumonisin B1; human blood; maize; mycotoxins; zearalenone; wheat
Hrčak ID:
26997
URI
Publication date:
10.3.2008.
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