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Determination of Aflatoxins and Ochratoxins in Sicilian Sweet Wines by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorometric Detection and Immunoaffinity Cleanup

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Abstract

Ochratoxin A is the only mycotoxins with legal limits in the European Union for wine, by contrast, there is no EU legislation imposed for Aflatoxins and Ochratoxin B. A reproducible and sensitive analytical method for six mycotoxins: Ochratoxin A, Ochratoxin B, Aflatoxins B1, Aflatoxin B2, Aflatoxin G1 and Aflatoxin G2 was developed by using immunoaffinity column cleanup and HPLC-FLD method in 30 sweet wines produced in Sicily. This typical type of wine is manufactured from grapes grown in warmer climates, which have a higher sugar content; also, the over-ripening and the drying process of the grapes before fermentation conditions are responsible for the particular susceptibility of these berries to contamination by mycotoxins producing fungi. Results revealed the presence of Ochratoxin A in 96.6 % and of Ochratoxin B in 83.3 % of the samples examined (mean 0.246 and 0.168 μg/l, respectively). None of the samples showed a contamination exceeding the EU limit (2 μg/kg). Nine of tested wines were found to contain Aflatoxins with concentrations ranging from below LOD values to 0.068 μg/l. The results showed a very low incidence of Ochratoxins and Aflatoxins in analyzed wines, confirming the high degree of quality and safety of Sicilian sweet wines.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by Ministero dell’Istruzione dell’Università e della Ricerca.

Conflict of Interest

Vita Di Stefano declares that he has no conflict of interest. Rosa Pitonzo declares that he has no conflict of interest. Giuseppe Avellone declares that he has no conflict of interest. Antonina Di Fiore declares that he has no conflict of interest. Lucio Monte declares that he has no conflict of interest. Agata Zofia Tabis Ogorka declares that he has no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science and Technology (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Vita Di Stefano, Giuseppe Avellone & Antonina Di Fiore

  2. Centro Grandi Apparecchiature (CGA) — UniNetLab, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Rosa Pitonzo

  3. Regional Institute of Wine and Oil of the Sicilian Region (IRVOS), Palermo, Italy

    Lucio Monte

  4. Faculty of Pharmacy–Toxicology, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland

    Agata Zofia Tabis Ogorka

  5. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123, Palermo, Italy

    Vita Di Stefano

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  1. Vita Di Stefano
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  2. Rosa Pitonzo
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  3. Giuseppe Avellone
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  5. Lucio Monte
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  6. Agata Zofia Tabis Ogorka
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Correspondence to Vita Di Stefano.

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Di Stefano, V., Pitonzo, R., Avellone, G. et al. Determination of Aflatoxins and Ochratoxins in Sicilian Sweet Wines by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorometric Detection and Immunoaffinity Cleanup. Food Anal. Methods 8, 569–577 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-014-9934-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-014-9934-3

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