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: AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2) 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 concentrationwas 0.64 ng g1, far below the maximum threshold admitted by the European legislation (5 ng g1 for AFB1, and 10 ng g1 for total aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2). A higher incidence of OTA was found in chili (60.0%) more than in pepper (13.3%), ranging from 2.16 to 16.35 ng g1, and from 1.61 to 15.85 ng g1, respectively. Moreover, three spice samples (2.3%) contaminated by OTA trespassed the threshold admitted by the European Regulation (EC, 2010). The cooccurrence of OTA and AFs in spices was detected in 6 out of 130 samples (4.6%), ranging from 1.61 to 15.85 ng g1 and from 0.57 to 3.19 ng g1, respectively.