doiSerbia

Residue of ochratoxin A in swine tissues: Risk assessment

Milićević Dragan R. (Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade)
Jurić Verica B. (Department for Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Novi Sad)
Vuković Dubravka Z. (Scientific Veterinary Institute 'Serbia', Belgrade)
Mandić Miodrag M. (Institute of Nuclear Sciences 'Vinča', Belgrade)
Baltić Tatjana M. (Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade)

Background: Samples of blood, kidney, and liver per animal were randomly selected from slaughtered pigs (n=60) and analyzed for ochratoxin A. Methods: Determination of ochratoxin A concentration in samples of kidney and liver was performed by high-performance thinlayer chromatography after immunoaffnity column clean up, while for plasma samples, a spectrofluorometric procedure was used. Results: Of the 60 plasma samples, 60% contained ochratoxin A in the range of 2.5-33.3 ng/mL (mean 3.05±5.0 ng/mL), while the incidence of ochratoxin A in kidneys and liver were very similar (70% and 65%). The average ochratoxin A concentration in liver was 3.2±4.35 ng/g (1.2-19.5 ng/g) and in kidneys was 3.97±4.47 ng/g (1.3-22.0 ng/g). A statistically significant difference (p<0.01) was found between region Bačka Topola and Kovilj for both liver and kidney samples. In kidney samples originating from region Kovilj and Senta, a statistically significant difference (p<0.01) was found. Mean distribution followed the pattern: kidney>liver>serum (100>80.8>77%). The results from this survey indicated that there was a strong correlation between the ochratoxin A level in serum and liver as well as in the ochratoxin A serum in kidney (r=0.884 and r=0.896, respectively) while the strongest correlation was found between the ochratoxin A level in liver and in kidney (r=0.970). Conclusion: The results of present study show that pork tissues as well as pork products are considered an important source of ochratoxin A in humans.

Keywords: Ochratoxins, Aspergillus ochraceus, Tissues, Swine, Mytotoxins