Application of an In Vitro Digestion Model for Wheat and Red Beetroot Bread to Assess the Bioaccessibility of Aflatoxin B1, Ochratoxin A and Zearalenone and Betalains.

Nowadays, the bakery industry includes different bioactive ingredients to enrich the nutritional properties of its products, such as betalains from red beetroot (Beta vulgaris). However, cereal products are considered a major route of exposure to many mycotoxins, both individually and in combination, due to their daily consumption, if the cereals used contain these toxins. Only the fraction of the contaminant that is released from the food is bioaccessible and bioavailable to produce toxic effects. Foods with bioactive compounds vary widely in chemical structure and function, and some studies have demonstrated their protective effects against toxics. In this study the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of three legislated mycotoxins (AFB1, OTA and ZEN), individual and combined, in two breads, one with wheat flour and the other with wheat flour enriched with 20% Beta vulgaris, were evaluated. Bioaccessibility of these three mycotoxins from wheat bread and red beet bread enriched individually at 100 ng/g was similar between the breads: 16% and 14% for AFB1, 16% and 17% for OTA and 26% and 22% for ZEN, respectively. Whereas, when mycotoxins were co-present these values varied with a decreasing tendency: 9% and 15% for AFB1, 13% and 9% for OTA, 4% and 25% for ZEN in wheat bread and in red beet bread, respectively. These values reveal that the presence of other components and the co-presence of mycotoxins can affect the final bioavailability; however, it is necessary to assess this process with in vivo studies to complete the studies.

Extraction and analysis of ochratoxin A in bread using pressurised liquid extraction and liquid chromatography.

A pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) method for the analysis of ochratoxin A (OTA) in bread samples is given. Parameters such as solvent, temperature, pressure and time were investigated thoroughly. The optimized PLE conditions were: methanol as extraction solvent, 80 degrees C, 2000 psi and a 5-min cycle. OTA was determined by liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection and confirmed by methyl ester derivatization. Under these conditions OTA recovery is 92.3% with a RSD of 5%. Limits of detection and quantification were 0.02 and 0.06 microg/kg, respectively. The proposed method was applied to 20 bread samples, finding two positive samples with OTA levels below the maximum permitted levels by the European Union.