Patulin content in apple products marketed in Northeast China

Patulin is a secondary metabolite, which is mainly produced by certain species of Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi. In this study, a total of 95 samples of apple products were analyzed for patulin content, including apple juice, baby food, apple juice concentrate, and mixed juice. Results of the study showed in 16% of apple products level of patulin found was higher than 50 mu g/kg. Only 12 samples, 12.6% in 95 samples were below detectable limit for patulin analysis. The average and median content of patulin in all the samples was 20.4 and 10.3 mu g/kg, respectively. The results of this study indicate that it is possible to reduce patulin levels in apple juice concentrate, the total reduction rate was 46.2% after processing. And the most significant stage for the reduction of patulin content was washing. After washing, the mean loss of patulin was 33.6%. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.