Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify OTA in fruit juices and wine originating from different provinces of Argentina between 2005 and 2011.
Methods: A total of 955 samples of grape juice (single strength, concentrated and sulfitated juices) and wines originating from five different Argentinean provinces were collected between 2005 and 2011. Cleanup step was carried out using an immunoaffinity column, followed by the determination of OTA in the samples through HPLC. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.15 and 0.3 ppb, respectively.
Results: OTA was not detected in any of the 620 samples of wines collected during the six years of study. On the other hand, this mycotoxin was detected in 5 samples (out of 29) of single strength grape juice, in 3 samples (out of 105) of concentrated clarified grape juice and in 7 (out of 201) of sulfitated juice. In the positive samples, the level of OTA varied from 0.22 to 3.6 ppb.
Significance: The results obtained in this study indicate good quality of the raw materials used in the processing of wine. The low levels of this mycotoxin in grape juices indicate that preventive measures need to be adopted to safeguard consumer’s exposure to OTA as low and continuous exposure to this mycotoxin could be a risk to human health.