Presence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in samarella (tsamarella), a traditional dried-cured meat of Cyprus

Ulusoy B. H., Hecer C., Sayiner S., Yildirim F. K.

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY-MYSORE, cilt.59, sa.8, ss.3002-3009, 2022 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 59 Sayı: 8
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s13197-022-05374-8
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY-MYSORE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, ABI/INFORM, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Analytical Abstracts, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, Biotechnology Research Abstracts, CAB Abstracts, Compendex, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, INSPEC, Veterinary Science Database
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.3002-3009
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Mycotoxin, Samarella, Tsamarella, Aflatoxin, Ochratoxin A, MOLDS, B-1, PRODUCTS, MYCOTOXINS, TOXICITY
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Dietary exposure to mycotoxins is a matter of great concern in terms of public health and regulatory bodies worldwide. Contamination of meat products with mycotoxigenic fungi and production of aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxin A (OTA) and other mycotoxins can occur at different points of the manufacturing steps, from farm to fork. Among all microorganisms, moulds (mycobiota) are groups of microorganisms that can contaminate dry-cured meats, so they may carry the risk of mycotoxicosis. Samarella (tsamarella in Greek) is one of Cyprus's traditional, sun-dried and salted meat products. Mycological studies on this product have not been reported, and the risk of AFs or OTA has not been studied. This point of view aimed to conduct a survey study in terms of mycotoxin risk in samarella. With this aim, samples (n = 30) were collected from all commercial brands from markets in Northern Cyprus and analysed by ELISA. According to the results of this study, 14 of 30 and 9 of 30 samples were above Quantitative Measurement Limits (LOQ) for Total AFs, and AFB1, respectively. On the other hand, no result was obtained above LOQ for OTA. It was obtained that among all detectable results for total AFs, even the min result (5.3 mu g/kg) was above 4 mu g/kg, defined as a critical limit for directly consumed foods. None of the AFB1 and OTA results was above the determined critical limit.