Occurrence and Contamination Level of Ochratoxin A in Tissues of Slaughtered Pigs in Greece

The aim of this work was to investigate the occurrence and contamination levels of ochratoxin A in slaughtered pigs in Greece. Samples were obtained from 1260 randomly collected healthy slaughtered pigs originating from 84 different farms located in four different geographic major swine farm regions of Greece (Western Macedonia, Thessaly, Central Greece, Central Macedonia). The ochratoxin A presence in blood serum, kidney, liver, muscle, and fatty tissues in samples of slaughtered pigs was examined by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. None of all kidney, liver, muscle, and fat samples were found ochratoxin A contaminated. A total of 579 (45.95%) of the 1260 analyzed serum samples were ochratoxin A contaminated in a range from 0.21 to 5.39 & mu;g/mL (mean level 0.66 & mu;g/mL) and ochratoxin A was present in serum in 65 (77.38%) of the 84 examined farms. The mean levels of ochratoxin A serum contamination in regions of Western Macedonia, Central Greece, and Central Macedonia were similar (0.29-0.32 & mu;g/mL). The highest ochratoxin A value (mean 1.20 & mu;g/L, median 0.53 & mu;g/L) with the highest coefficient of variation (1.12) was found in the Thessaly region. Although ochratoxin A was not found in pork meat in Greece, the presence of ochratoxin A in pig serum requires continuous och-ratoxin A monitoring in the swine industry and pork meat.