TY  - JOUR
T1  - Occurrence of Ochratoxin a in Nigerian Ready for Sale Cocoa Beans
AU - , L. Dongo AU - , R. Bandyopadhyay AU - , M. Kumar AU - , P.S. Ojiambo 
JO  - Agricultural Journal
VL  - 3
IS  - 1
SP  - 4
EP  - 9
PY  - 2008
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1816-9155
DO  - aj.2008.4.9
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=aj.2008.4.9
KW  - Ochratoxin a ready for sale cocoa beans
KW  -Nigeria
KW  -States
AB  - Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin commonly associated with many food and beverage crops grown in tropical and temperate regions.  There is no data available regarding OTA contamination of ready for sale cocoa beans in Nigeria. The objective of this study was to assess the levels of OTA contaminations in ready for sale cocoa bean samples collected from farmers during a survey in three states of Nigeria. An indirect competitive ELISA protocol was used to quantify OTA levels in the samples. Out of 59 samples analyzed, > 90% were positive for OTA, with concentrations ranging from 1.0 to 277.5 µg kg <SUP>1</SUP>.  Cocoa bean samples from Cross Rivers State were more contaminated in terms of OTA levels, the higher concentrations observed was 277.5 and 200.8 µg kg <SUP>1</SUP>in 2 samples from Cross Rivers and Edo States, respectively. However, There were no significant differences among the OTA levels of the three States (p > 0.05).
ER  -