Co-occurrence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in spices commercialized in Italy

A total of 130 spice samples coming from India, China, South America, USA, Northern Africa, Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa were collected in different stores of Northern Italy. They were analysed for aflatoxins (AFs: AFB(1), AFB(2), AFG(1), AFG(2)) and ochratoxin A (OTA) content by liquid chromatography with mass spectroscopy and positive electrospray ionization (LC/ESI-MS/MS), and HPLC with fluorescence detector (FLD), respectively. The analysis showed that 20 (15.4%) and 31 (23.8%) out of 130 samples were contaminated with AFs and OTA, respectively. A low level of total AFs contamination was found in the positive samples, the average concentration was 0.64 ng g(-1), far below the maximum threshold admitted by the European legislation (5 ng g(-1) for AFB(1), and 10 ng g(-1) for total aflatoxins (AFB(1), AFB(2), AFG(1) and AFG(2)). A higher incidence of OTA was found in chili (60.0%) more than in pepper (13.3%), ranging from 2.16 to 1635 ng g(-1), and from 1.61 to 15.85 ng g(-1), respectively. Moreover, three spice samples (2.3%) contaminated by OTA trespassed the threshold admitted by the European Regulation (EC, 2010). The co-occurrence of OTA and AFs in spices was detected in 6 out of 130 samples (4.6%), ranging from 1.61 to 15.85 ng g-1 and from 0.57 to 3.19 ng g-1, respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.