Incidence of aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and zearalenone in tunisian foods

A total of 209 samples of different groups of foods widely consumed by the Tunisian population were collected during 2004-2005 years. Samples were analyzed for contamination with aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and zearalenone, using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The predominant mycotoxin was ochratoxin A with a mean level of 3.5 +/- 5.3 ng g(-1) in 59.8% of studied samples. Furthermore, Aflatoxins were detected in all analyzed commodities with a contamination frequency of 50.5%. In addition, aflatoxin B I was found in 37% of the samples. The zearalenone was detected around 15% with a mean level of 10.4 +/- 11.8 ng g(-1). Species, dried fruits and sorghum were the most contaminated samples by aflatoxin and ochratoxin mycotoxins, whereas Rice was the least contaminated commodity. The most frequent mycotoxins co-occurrence included aflatoxins and ochratoxin A, which have been detected in 33.8% of analyzed samples. Furthermore, the simultaneous contamination by aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and zearatenone was observed in 7.2% of studied samples. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.