title: Detection of patulin in apple juices marketed in the Tohoku district, Japan.
abstract: Patulin is a mycotoxin mainly produced by Penicillium and Aspergillus. We investigated the incidence of patulin contamination in 179 samples of apple juice and 9 samples of mixed juice (containing apple juice concentrate as an ingredient) commercially available in the Tohoku district of Japan. Patulin was detected in 3 of 143 samples containing domestic fruits and in 6 of 45 samples containing imported products and products produced in Japan using imported apple juice concentrate. Patulin analyses were carried out using high-pressure liquid chromatography with a detection limit of 4 microg/liter. The patulin content of contaminated domestic samples (three samples with concentrations ranging from 6 to 10 microg/liter), imported samples (one sample with a concentration of 15 microg/liter), and domestic samples produced containing imported concentrate (five samples with concentrations ranging from 6 to 9 microg/liter) was lower than the maximum limit of 50 microg/liter currently adopted by many countries, including Japan.
authors.affiliation: National Agricultural Research Center for Tohoku Region, Akahira, Shimokuriyagawa, Morioka, Iwate 020-0198, Japan. wata@affrc.go.jp
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimizu
mesh_terms: D001628:Beverages / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005504:Food Analysis; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan; D027845:Malus / Q000382:microbiology; D009153:Mutagens / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010365:Patulin / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens; D010365:Patulin