ASSESSMENT OF THE ALTERNARIA MYCOTOXIN TENUAZONIC ACID IN FRUIT JUICE SAMPLES

Tenuazonic acid (TeA) is a secondary toxic metabolite that is produced by some Alternaria species. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of TeA in fruit juice samples. A total of 50 (40 Grape; 5 Apple; 5 Orange) fruit juice samples were collected from Tabriz, Iran local market and were analyzed for TeA contamination via HPLC-UV. Analyte extraction was done by acetonitrile/water/formic acid (84/16/1 v/v/v). Lower limit of quantitation and upper limit of quantification for the developed method were 10 mu g/L and 4000 mu g/L respectively. Recovery ranged was between 96 to 108 %. The results showed 42.5% of grape juice samples were contaminated with TeA and the average concentration of TeA was 139.2 +/- 115.5 mu g/L. However, it was not detected in apple and orange juice samples. This is the first study on the presence of TeA in Iranian food samples and showed that the necessity of more supervision on the production of grape juice.