title: The occurrence of ochratoxin A in rice in six provinces of Iran.
abstract: Three hundred and eight samples of rice purchased from retail markets in six different provinces in Iran from March 2012 to January 2013 were surveyed for the presence of ochratoxin A (OTA) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The recovery percentages of OTA from spiked rice samples at concentrations of 5 and 10 ng/g were found to be 85.3% and 86.7%, respectively. Analytical results showed a 9.4% frequency of contamination from total analyzed rice samples with a mean OTA level of 3.60 ± 2.66 ng/g. Concentrations of OTA in positive samples ranged from 0.84 ng/g to 11.37 ng/g, and in 17.3% of contaminated rice samples the concentrations exceeded the maximum tolerance limit set by European regulations for OTA in cereals (5 ng/g). Based on the results of this study, the estimated daily intake of OTA in rice was 0.62 ng/kg body weight/day for Iranian consumers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran ebrahimrahimi55@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rahimi
mesh_terms: D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005504:Food Analysis; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D007492:Iran; D009793:Ochratoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D009793:Ochratoxins; C025589:ochratoxin A
keywords: ELISA; Iran; Ochratoxin A; rice