Coacervative extraction of Ochratoxin A in wines prior to liquid chromatography/fluorescence determination

Coacervates made up of reverse micelles of decanoic acid were assessed as a new strategy for the simplification of wine sample treatment in the determination of Ochratoxin A (OTA). Simultaneous extraction/concentration of this contaminant was based on both hydrophobic and hydrogen bond OTA:coacervate interactions. Parameters affecting extraction efficiency and concentration factors were studied. Concentrations of decanoic acid and tetrahydrofuran (THF) were the most influential parameters, being 0.5% of acid and 5% of THF the selected ones. The procedure was very robust, so that the extractions were not influenced by the pH and the nature or concentration of matrix components. OTA recoveries from different types of wines (white, rosé and red) ranged between 85 and 100% and the actual concentration factors varied from 105 to 125 for sample volumes of 15 mL. The detection limits for OTA, after liquid chromatography/fluorimetry (LC/FL) analysis of the coacervate (20 microL), were 4.5 ng L(-1) in white and rosé wines and 15 ng L(-1) in red wines, values which were far below the threshold limit established for OTA by EU directives (2.0 microg L(-1)). No clean-up of the extracts was required for any of the samples analysed. The overall sample treatment took about 15-20 min and several samples could be simultaneously treated using conventional lab equipment. The precision of the method, expressed as relative standard deviation, was about 5%. The approach developed was successfully applied to the determination of OTA in different wine samples from the South of Spain. The concentrations found ranged between 0.015 and 0.091 microg L(-1).