AUTHOR=Laratta Bruna , Carpentieri Serena , Cautela Domenico 

TITLE=Investigation of aflatoxins occurrence in flavoring preparations for the alcoholic beverage industry

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Food Science and Technology

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/food-science-and-technology/articles/10.3389/frfst.2023.1213980

DOI=10.3389/frfst.2023.1213980

ISSN=2674-1121

ABSTRACT=An exploratory investigation study was carried out to ascertain determine the occurrence of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 in various different aromatic preparations used to producein the production of bitters, liqueurs, and flavored wines. Aflatoxin analysis was performed using by liquid-liquid extraction and followed by immunoaffinity column to for purification ofclean-up the extracts. The aflatoxins were quantitatively detected using HPLC technique with post-column derivatization and fluorescence detection. After in-house validation, the method was applied to the determination of aflatoxins in 40 samples of aromatic preparations used in the production of aperitifs and bitter drinks, vermouths and aromatized wines, and nut and citrus liqueurs. This method showed good accuracy between days (72-95% recovery) and precision (3-13% relative standard deviation). None of the samples analyzed contained detectable levels of aflatoxins. Only in one sample of aromatic extract of vermouth and aromatized wine aflatoxins B1 and G1 were found below the limit of quantification. The method was in-house validated and subsequently applied for determinations of aflatoxins in 40 samples of aromatic preparations used in the production of aperitif and bitter liqueurs; vermouth and aromatized wine; nut-flavored liqueurs; and citrus flavored liqueurs. No detectable amounts of aflatoxins were found in all analyzed samples. Aflatoxins B1 and G1, below the limit of quantification, were only found in one sample of aromatic extract of Vermouth and aromatized wine.