Exposure to Ochratoxin A from Rice Consumption in Lebanon and United Arab Emirates: A Comparative Study

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorAlwan, Nisreen
dc.contributor.authorHassan, Hussein
dc.contributor.authorCharara, Abeer
dc.contributor.authorETAL..
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-30T09:43:26Z
dc.date.available2024-05-30T09:43:26Z
dc.date.issued2022-09-04
dc.descriptionMycotoxins are harmful secondary metabolites that are produced by different fungi, such as Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria, Fusarium, and Claviceps [1]. While there are over 300 known mycotoxins, 6 of them are commonly detected in food, causing unpredictable and persistent food safety issues worldwide. Many crops, including nuts, cereals, fruits, and vegetables, pose a high contamination risk with mycotoxins [2]. Furthermore, if animals consume contaminated feed, mycotoxins can be detected in animal-derived foods, such as eggs, milk, and meat [3]. Contaminated food crops with mycotoxins constitute around 25% of crops worldwide [4]. Poor agricultural and harvesting practices and incorrect handling promote fungal growth, increasing the likelihood of mycotoxin formation [5,6]. Furthermore, water activity between 0.80 and 0.99 and temperatures between 25 and 30 °C promote fungal growth and thus increase the chances of mycotoxin presence [7]. Mycotoxins pose a risk to human health because they can cause severe and irreversible harm, such as cancer [8].
dc.description.abstractOur study aims to evaluate the ochratoxin A (OTA) in rice marketed in Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and to determine the exposure to OTA from rice consumption. All brands available in the market were collected twice (total number of collected samples: 105 and 127 in Lebanon and the UAE, respectively). Using ELISA, the OTA in 56 (53%) samples in Lebanon and 73 (58%) samples in the UAE were above the limit of quantification (0.8 μg/kg). The average concentrations of the positive samples ± standard deviations were 1.29 ± 0.32 and 1.40 ± 0.42 μg/kg in Lebanon and the UAE, respectively. Only one sample (1%) in Lebanon had a level at the borderline of the European Union (EU) limit, and two samples (1.6%) in the UAE had a level above the EU limit (5 μg/kg). The OTA in brown rice was higher than in white and parboiled rice for both countries, yet the difference was not significant. The packing season, packing country, and country of origin did not have any significant effects. The presence of a food safety certification resulted in lower OTA in the rice, but the difference was significant (p = 0.04) in the UAE only. Long grains had higher OTA than short grains, yet the difference was only significant in Lebanon (p = 0.046). The exposures were calculated as 1.27 ng/kg body weight/day in Lebanon and 1.42 ng/kg body weight/day in the UAE, and no health risk was observed for both the neoplastic and non-neoplastic effects. Keywords: Rice, Ochratoxin A, ELISA, Exposure, Contamination
dc.identifier.citationHassan, H. F., Abou Ghaida, A., Charara, A., Dimassi, H., Faour, H., Nahouli, R., ... & Alwan, N. (2022). Exposure to ochratoxin A from rice consumption in Lebanon and United Arab Emirates: A comparative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(17), 11074.
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191711074
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.adu.ac.ae/handle/1/5525
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherMDPI
dc.titleExposure to Ochratoxin A from Rice Consumption in Lebanon and United Arab Emirates: A Comparative Study
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Exposure to Ochratoxin A from Rice Consumption.pdf
Size:
349.33 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed to upon submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Enviormental Health and Safety