A Survey of Barley, Malt and Beer Contamination with Ochratoxin A in Turkey

The presence of ochratoxin A (OTA) was investigated in barley, malt and beer samples using an ELISA method (RIDASCREEN). The lower detection limit of this OTA test was 0.08 μg/L for beer and 0.4 μg/kg for barley and malt. In 26 out of 29 barley samples the OTA content was between 0.53–12 μg/kg. OTA was between 0.5–6.6 μg/kg in 23 out of 24 malt samples. Only one malt sample had no detectable OTA using RIDASCREEN. The OTA content was between 0.1–8.10 μg/L in 42 out of 150 beer samples (28%) and in 108 beer samples OTA was not found at detectable levels (72%). Only one beer sample contained more than 5 μg/L OTA.