Natural co-occurrence of ochratoxin A, ochratoxin B and aflatoxins in Sicilian red wines

AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2) in red wines was investigated by HPLC/FLD after immunoaffinity column clean-up in 57 market samples produced in Sicily (Italy). The results showed a very low incidence of these mycotoxins in analysed samples, confirming the high degree of quality and safety of Sicilian red wines. The results indicated 71.9% and 64.9% positive samples for OTA and OTB respectively, with an average level of 0.13 μg l–1, well below the European maximum permitted levels (MLs). The aflatoxin most frequently detected in the samples was AFG1, present in 57.9% of samples, while the other aflatoxins were rarely present. Recovery experiments were carried out on eight mycotoxin-free red wines spiked with OTA, OTB, AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 at two different levels. The limits of detection (LODs) in wines were 0.02 μg l–1 for OTA, 0.04 μg l–1 for OTB, 0.03 μg l–1 for AFG1, AFG2 and AFB2, and 0.05 μg l–1 for AFB1. A good correlation was found, with good performances in term of precision for the method.