Ricerc@Sapienza

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin with a serious impact on human health. In Mediterranean countries, the black Aspergilli group, in particular Aspergillus carbonarius, causes the highest OTA contamination. Here we describe the synthesis of three polyphenolic flavonoids: 5-hydroxy-6,7-dimethoxy-flavone (MOS), 5,6-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavone (NEG), and 5,6 dihydroxy-flavone (DHF), as well as their effect on the prevention of OTA biosynthesis and lipoxygenase (LOX) activity in A. carbonarius cultured in a conducive liquid medium.

Mycotoxins exposure by inhalation and/or dermal contact is possible in different branches of industry especially where heavily dusty settings are present and the handling of dusty commodities is performed. This study aims to explore the validity of the biomonitoring as a tool to investigate the intake of mycotoxins in a population of workers operating in an Italian feed plant. Serum samples were collected for the determination of aflatoxins B1 (AFB1), AFB1-Lysine adduct and ochratoxin A (OTA).

Mycotoxins can contaminate various food commodities, including cereals. Moreover, mycotoxins of different classes can co-contaminate food, increasing human health risk. Several analytical methods have been published in the literature dealing with mycotoxins determination in cereals. Nevertheless, in the present work, the aim was to propose an easy and effective system for the extraction of six of the main mycotoxins from corn meal and durum wheat flour, i.e., the main four aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and the mycoestrogen zearalenone.

In this paper, we report on the design, fabrication and characterization of a low cost, portable detection system able to quantify, in a rapid and reliable way, the contamination level of Ochratoxin A (OTA) in wine and beer. The operating principle is the real time monitoring of the natural fluorescence of OTA molecules during a chromatographic run on a Thin Layer Chromatographic plate. The fluorescence is detected by an array of amorphous silicon photosensors whose photocurrents are directly proportional to the amount of OTA molecules present in the sample under analysis.