In organic food production the use of synthetic antifungal agents is prohibited for this reason organic food may be more susceptible to fungal contamination. In this study, a total of 235 samples of organic foods (maize flour, wheat flour, barley flour, rye flour, raisin, fig, prune, dried fruits and molasses) produced in Turkey were analyzed for possible contamination with aflatoxin, ochratoxin A (OTA) and fumonisin. A total of 159 organic food samples were analyzed for aflatoxin, in 14.46 % of these samples aflatoxin was detected. The concentrations of aflatoxin in cereals, dried fruits and molasses ranged from 0 to 42.73 µg/kg, 0 to 10.47 µg/kg and 0 to 29.3 µg/kg respectively. A total of 221 samples were analyzed for ochratoxin A and 43.43 % of these samples were contaminated with OTA. The concentrations of ochratoxin A in cereals, dried fruits and molasses ranged from 0 to 18.11 µg/kg, 0 to 34.35 µg/kg and 0 to 25.24 µg/kg respectively. A total of 225 samples were analyzed for fumonisin, in 24.88 % of the samples fumonisin was detected. The concentrations of fumonisin in cereals, dried fruits and molasses ranged from 0 to 1684 µg/kg, 0 to 1816 µg/kg and 0 to 1714 µg/kg, respectively. The results showed that organic foods maybe contaminated mycotoxins and effective organic antifungal agents must be used.
Aflatoxin, Ochratoxin A, Fumonisin, Organic Foods
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