Ochratoxin A in figs - Clean-up with OtaCLEAN

Dried figs

Even figs are getting dried for preservation purposes, figs are a potential source for mould growth and thus for the presence of toxic mycotoxins as long as there is remaining humidity in. In 2021, 65 complaints of dried figs to be traded in Europe were found with excessive mycotoxin concentrations. In 2022, 20 mycotoxin findings have already been detected in dried figs to be imported into the EU. The toxins aflatoxin and ochratoxin A were detected here. Today we show the Analysis of Ochratoxins in it, which even with this high content of sugar is ideally performed with LCTech Columns.

OtaCLEAN - IAC Clean-up Columns for the analysis of ochratoxin A

A monoclonal antibody specially developed for this field of application guarantees best results even with difficult matrices.

• 3 mL format
• Shelf life: 24 months at room temperature
• For high matrix loading, e.g. for figs up to 2 g of Matrix
• Loading capacity: 200 ng ochratoxin A
• Recoveries: > 90 %
• Suitable for manual or automated processing

LCTech offers also a complete Sample preparation solution with the immunoaffinity columns OtaCLEAN and the robotic system FREESTYLE SPE.

Save working time and increase your throughput with automated processing around the clock with the FREESTYLE SPE. Very good recovery rates are achieved even with difficult matrices, such as figs with its high content of sugar, and automation stands for application reproducibility. Any manual SPE method that has proven successful in your laboratorycan be transferred directly to the system. Already created methods can be saved and reused, but also modified.

Processing protocol

Mix 20 g homogenised dried figs with 2 g sodium chloride. For extraction use 100 mL methanol/water (80/20 (v/v)) and to remove fats and oils during extraction add 50 mL n-hexane. An extraction of at least 10 minutes is recommended.

After filtration, centrifuge the crude extract to achieve an optimal phase separation between the methanolic and the n-hexane phase. Dilute 10 mL of the lower, methanolic phase (this corresponds to 2 g matrix) with 40 mL PBS. Load the diluted sample on the OtaCLEAN column. Rinse the sample reservoir with 2 x 5 mL deionised water and load the rinsing solution on the OtaCLEAN column as well. After washing the column bed, dry the column with an air stream. Finally, elute the toxin by using 2 mL methanol. For this let the methanol act in the column bed for at least 5 minutes to ensure complete denaturation of the antibodies and thus elution of the toxin.

Detailed evaluations such as chromatograms can be found under the following link: Mycotoxin Application by LCTech

Conclusion

The OtaCLEAN immunoaffinity column offers a very good usage in the whole range of food and feed analysis with best clean-up and good recovery rates. The matrix tolerance is high, a loading with up to 2 g enables the highest measuring sensitivity even for baby food. Due to the selective binding of the toxin, excellent chromatographic performance is given, which significantly reduces chromatography times.