Ochratoxin A in wines, musts and grape juices from Spain

A survey on the occurrence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in 240 grape-based beverages was carried out. Red and white wines from four different Spanish Designations of Origin (n = 160), musts (n = 20), grape juices (n = 10), ordinary wines (n = 20), special wines (Malaga, muscatel, sherry, vermouth, etc) (n = 20) and sparkling wines (n = 10) were assayed for OTA content using immunoaffinity column clean-up and high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection (detection limit 0.05 (mu)g l^-1). Forty-three (17.9%) of the samples tested contained detectable levels of OTA. The overall mean OTA concentration in red and white wines of Designations of Origin was 0.30 and 0.18 (mu)g l^-1 respectively (ranges 0.05-3.19 and 0.05-1.13 (mu)g l^-1 respectively). The percentage of wine samples with detectable amounts of OTA was higher for red (18.3%) than for white (10%) wines. OTA was also found in two of 10 red ordinary wines (0.68 and 4.24 (mu)g l^-1), whereas none of 10 white ordinary wines contained OTA. The mean OTA amount detected in sparkling wines was 0.44 (mu)g l^-1 (range 0.14-0.71 (mu)g l^-1). Two of 20 must samples contained OTA at low levels (0.08 and 0.18 (mu)g l^-1), while none of 10 grape juice samples contained OTA. Highest amounts of OTA were found in special wines (45%), with a maximum of 15.25 (mu)g l^-1 in a muscatel sample.