Ochratoxin A in beverages from Morocco: a preliminary survey.

In a preliminary study, samples of Moroccan wines (n = 30), beers (n = 5) and fruit juices (n = 14) were assayed for ochratoxin A (OTA) by HPLC with fluorimetric detection, followed by confirmation by cleavage of the OTA molecule using carboxypeptidase with HPLC-fluorimetric determination of ochratoxin alpha (OT alpha). All the wine samples were contaminated, and the overall median OTA concentration was 0.65 microg/l (range 0.