A study of the contamination by ochratoxin A of green and roasted coffee beans

Abstract

A study was performed to evaluate the contamination by ochratoxin A in coffee beans. Twenty-nine samples of green coffee were collected from large lots of material by representative sampling. The analyses of green coffee samples showed a significantly high contamination percentage (58%) ranging from 0.2 to 15 micrograms/kg. Naturally and artificially contaminated samples were roasted at different operation times (5-6 min) to verify the percentage of destruction of the mycotoxin. The percentage ranged from 48% to 87% and from 90% to 100% in artificially and naturally contaminated samples respectively. The beverages prepared from artificially contaminated coffee using the most common types of coffee makers showed no residues of ochratoxin A.