Occurrence of moulds and ochratoxin A in dried fruits and vegetables from the Serbian market

Various dried fruits and vegetables (raspberries, cherries, grapes, blueberries, apricots, cranberries, figs, plums, pears, apples, tomatoes, mixed vegetables), with and without surface disinfection, were analysed for the presence of moulds and ochratoxin A. Dried figs were the only ones in which moulds were not detected. In other samples, contamination by moulds was reduced after surface disinfection, while internalized contamination remained. Species observed in dried fruits were from the genera Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Emericella, Eupenicillium, Eurotium, Monilia, Mucor, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Talaromyces, Trichoderma and Xeromyces, and in vegetables were Aspergillus, Penicillium and Rhizopus. Among the dominant genera and species in dried fruits were Penicillium, which represented 24.5 % of all isolates, Aspergillus (22.3 %) and Rhizopus (19.2 %), with P. glabrum, A. niger and Rh. oryzae as the most common species. The dominant genera and species in dried vegetables were Penicillium (6.4 %) and Rhizopus (5.3 %), with P. glabrum, Rh. microspores and Rh. oligosporus, as the most common species. Potential ochratoxin A producers found in this study were A. niger and P. verrucosum. However, the results of immunochemical analysis by ELISA indicated that the content of ochratoxin A in all samples was lower than 0.1 mu g & BULL;kg-1.