Presence of ochratoxin A and toxic elements residue in tissues and their impact on safety of pork

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The aim and task of this study was to determine the presence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in blood serum, liver and kidneys of fattening swine, slaughtered regularly, originating from different areas of Serbia. During meat inspection on the slaughterhouse line samples of blood, kidney and liver per animal were randomly sampled (n=90) and analyzed by HPLC for ochratoxin A. Also, the presence of nephrotoxic (cadmium, lead, mercury and arsenic) elements in kidneys was carried out. Of the 90 liver samples, 26.6% contained OTA in the range of 0.22-14.5 ng/g, while the incidence of OTA in serum and kidney samples were very similar (31 and 33.3%, respectively). The analyses showed that serum samples were positive in the range of 0.22-221 ng/mL, while ochratoxin A concentrations in the kidney were between 0.17 and 52.5 ng/g. The mean distribution of OTA residue followed the pattern: serum>kidneys>liver (100>34>17), while in respect to occurrence it followed the pattern: kidneys>serum>liver (100>93.4>79.9). The results of this study showed that 2.2% of kidney sample had a content of ochratoxin A above the maximum permitted limit in Serbia of 10 ng/g. The results from this survey indicated that there was a low correlation between the OTA level in serum and liver as well as in the OTA level in kidney and liver (r=0.319 and 0.341, respectively) while the strongest correlation was found between the OTA level in serum and in kidney (r=0.973). The presence of mercury was found in 33.3% of kidney samples in the range of 0.005-0.055 mg/kg, while the presence of cadmium was found to a lesser degree (27.7%). The Hg concentrations in the kidney samples were lower than 0.10 mg/kg and did not exceed the guideline level established in Serbia, while concentration of cadmium in only one kidney sample was greater than 1.0 mg/kg, and exceeded the limit proposed by the Serbian Rule Book. The presence of arsenic was found only in one sample, while the presence of lead was not established. This study shows the presence of OTA in Serbian slaughtered pigs at levels comparable to those reported in other countries.