Revision of ochratoxin a production capacity by the main species of Aspergillus section Circumdati Aspergillus steynii revealed as the main risk of OTA contamination

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a highly toxigenic mycotoxin commonly present in a number of diverse agroproducts Aspergillus Section Circumdati Includes some of the most important OTA-producing species Aspergillus ochraceus Aspergillus elegans and the recently described Aspergillus steynii and Aspergillus westerdijkiae In this work OTA production by several strains of these four species from diverse origins and food matrices was examined Identification of all the strains was carried out by specific PCR assays The strains were cultivated in CYA solid medium and OTA was measured by HLPC This study demonstrated for the first time the high capacity of A steynii shams to produce OTA at higher levels than A westerdijkiae, A ochraceus and A elegans strains showed low levels or no production at all In conclusion the results of this study suggest that the occurrence of A steynii and A westerdijkiae might represent the major potential risk for OTA contamination due to their high production and the diversity of commodities that these species may contaminate (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved