Behaviour and reduction of ochratoxin A in green coffee beans in response to various processing methods

Abstract

 As a consequence of unfavourable harvests, processing conditions or unsuitable transport and storage conditions, unprocessed food and food products may contain ochratoxin A (OTA). This substance has also been found on green coffee beans imported by the coffee roasting industry. The German Coffee Association has initiated a program to check whether existing technologies for the quality control, selection and/or treatment of green coffee beans are appropriate for the reduction of the levels of this mycotoxin. The results showed that all types of processing evaluated, especially decaffeination with solvents, reduced OTA levels significantly. An earlier study has shown that coffee roasting and extraction (in the case of soluble coffee) led to a reduction in the levels of OTA.