`New Method to Detect Mycotoxins in Olive Oil - Olive Oil Times

New Method to Detect Mycotoxins in Olive Oil

By Rosa Gonzalez-Lamas
Jun. 4, 2019 07:59 UTC

Researchers from the University of Almería, in Spain, have found a quick, easy and low-cost ana­lyt­i­cal method, which helps to detect toxic sub­stances that are cre­ated by microor­gan­isms in edi­ble veg­etable oils.

The ana­lyt­i­cal method employs ultra-high-per­for­mance liq­uid chro­matog­ra­phy-tan­dem mass spec­trom­e­try to iden­tify myco­tox­ins in the oils and is based on a QuEChERS pro­ce­dure (quick, easy, cheap, effec­tive, rugged and safe).

Mycotoxins are nat­ural sub­stances pro­duced by some fungi species and are found in crops, includ­ing olives. When con­sumed, they can have neg­a­tive impacts on human health, includ­ing hal­lu­ci­na­tions and severe immune prob­lems. For this rea­son, the max­i­mum amounts of myco­tox­ins that are tol­er­ated in foods tends to be low.

As a result of the study, which ana­lyzed olive oil for the first time, food safety orga­ni­za­tions now have data that helps to deter­mine the max­i­mum amount of tox­ins and microor­gan­isms that can safely be con­sumed in olive oil.

These results will allow health author­i­ties to develop reg­u­la­tions regard­ing the level of myco­tox­ins per­mit­ted in edi­ble oils going for­ward.





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