Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in dry-fermented sausages in Croatia, by LC-MS/MS

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a highly-sensitive liquid chromatographic - tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method to investigate the presence of aflatoxins (AFB₁, AFB₂, AFG₁ and AFG₂) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in traditional homemade sausages (n = 88) collected from small family farms situated in different regions in Croatia. Aflatoxins were not detected (<LOD) in any of the analysed samples, whereas the percentage of OTA-positive homemade sausages was 14.8%, consisting of 1.1% Istrian sausages, 7.9% Slavonian sausages and 5.7% Kulenova Seka. In Slavonian sausages, the mean OTA concentration was 0.27 ± 0.09 μg/kg with a maximum of 0.38 μg/kg, while in Kulenova Seka the mean concentration was 0.26 ± 0.14 μg/kg, rising to a maximum of 0.48 μg/kg. Statistically significant differences (<i>p</i> = .243) in OTA concentrations across different types of homemade sausage and sampling regions were not determined.