Authors : Reza Mahdavi , Somayeh Alsadat Hosseini Khorrami and Mortaza Vahed Jabbari
Abstract: Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin produced by some species of fungi such as Aspergillus and Penicilium. It is found as a contaminant of a variety of animal and human foods. Ochratoxin A has teratogenic, carcinogenic, hepatotoxic and especially nephrotoxic effects on human and animals. According to the dietary recommendations in Iran, consumption of soft drinks is decreasing, while the consumption of nutritive beverages such as non alcoholic beer, is increasing. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the content of Ochratoxin A in 70 malt beverage samples (35 local and 35 imported) which were collected randomly from supermarkets of Tabriz in Iran during July to September 2006. These samples were analyzed for levels of Ochratoxin A by ELISA technique. Results were compared with the European proposed maximum limit (2 ppb), for Ochratoxin A in beer. In general, all of the local and imported samples were contaminated with Ochratoxin A but the levels of contamination were under the maximum permitted levels. The mean Ochratoxin A concentrations in local and imported samples were 96.04±126.13 and 60.71±47.82 ng L 1, respectively that the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). No significant differences were observed between different brands contamination. The detected range of Ochratoxin A in local samples was from 0.50-524.50 ng L 1, while in imported samples was from 0.90-228.60 ng L 1. The mean and range of Ochratoxin A contamination in local samples were higher than the imported samples. Although the ochratoxin A concentrations of nonalcoholic beers in this study were under the maximum permitted levels, the long term continuous consumption may have considerable health problem despite the low levels of contamination.
Reza Mahdavi , Somayeh Alsadat Hosseini Khorrami and Mortaza Vahed Jabbari , 2007. Evaluation of Ochratoxin a Contamination in non Alcoholic Beers in Iran . Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 2: 546-550.