OCHRATOXIN A IN TURKISH WINES ABSTRACT In this research ...

OCHRATOXIN A IN TURKISH WINES621TABLE 7.GENERAL COMPARISON OF OCHRATOXIN A (OTA)CONTENT OF THE TURKISH RED, WHITE AND ROSEWINESWine sampleOTA*n X¯ (mg/L) S X¯ (mg/L)Red 70 0.728 A 0.1350White 16 0.164 A 0.0247Rose 8 0.526 A 0.1840* Values with different letters are statistically different (P 0.05);limit of quantitation: 0.01 mg/L.from the Thrace region seem to vary compared with those in the other regions(Table 4), and this could be explained by the dispersion of the vineyards on thedifferent parts of that region. The red wine samples contain more OTA than therose and white wine samples in all the regions (Tables 3–5). However, thesedifferences are more significant in the Aegean region (Table 4). Similar resultshave been proclaimed by several authors (Zimmerli and Dick 1996; Wallrauch1998; Ottender and Majerus 2000).Majerus and Ottender (1996) surveyed 114 wines with median concentrationsof OTA: 7 ng/L for white wines and 200 ng/L for red wines (thehighest level is 1850 ng/L for Algerian wines).Zimmerli and Dick (1996), Ospital et al. (1998), Ottender and Majerus(2000), Filali et al. (2001), Pietri et al. (2001) and Leitner et al. (2002)reported different data from different parts of Europe and the Mediterraneanzone. Many of those results showed a higher incidence of contamination anda higher level of OTA in red wines, particularly in red wines from the Mediterraneanregion.CONCLUSIONOur survey shows that the OTA contamination in Turkish wines is higherin the Aegean and Thrace regions, and the data are in agreement with those forother wines from the south part of the Mediterranean region. Despite theimportance of OTA, there is no systematic surveillance of raisins, sultanas andwines in Turkey for the presence of mycotoxins. Our goal was to achievemethods for the regulatory control of the mycotoxins in wines and other foodproducts in Turkey, and to meet the EC’s regulatory limits.