Monitoring of ochratoxin A during the fermentation of different wines by applying high toxin concentrations

Abstract The change of ochratoxin A (OTA) content during must fermentation processes in different white, rose and red must samples was investigated by the use of selected yeast strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as starter cultures. Levels of OTA in wine must and lees were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with diode array detection (DAD). Due to the addition of yeast strains the OTA concentration of the liquid phase decreased by 73–90%, while in the lees it increased continuously during the 90 day long fermentation period. The removal efficiency of OTA increased in the following order: white