The National Entity of accreditation (ENAC) has endorsed some tests being carried out by the research center in Applied Pharmacobiology (CIFA) of the University of Navarra. ENAC, sponsored and supervised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, certifies the quality of CIFA's research on mycotoxins, specifically ochratoxin A and its presence in cereals, coffee and wine.

Mycotoxins are compounds produced by molds that grow on plants and can pass directly to humans and animals through their consumption. As Adela López de Ceráin, from the department of Bromatology, Food Technology and Toxicology of the University of Navarra, explains, "the growing interest in their study is their potential carcinogenic effect, fundamentally in ochratoxin A. Both humans and animals would die from large ingestions, but what is worrying are the very small amounts over a long period of time".

Keep an eye on this toxin

The study, carried out at Departments of Bromatology, Food Technology and Toxicology and Chemistry Organic and Pharmaceutical, concluded that "although ochratoxin A levels have been found in some of the products analyzed (cereals, wine and coffee), they are well below the maximum permissible limits. However, the data encourage a vigilant attitude towards this mycotoxin, and certain factors that may influence its appearance, such as food storage and transport conditions, have been revealed. We must control them to reduce the probability of possible contamination with this mycotoxin," argues Adela López de Ceráin.

This work is part of a line of research directed by Dr. Elena González-Peñas and Dr. Adela López de Ceráin, and is funded by financial aid of the Interministerial Commission of Science and Technology, the Government of Navarra, the high school National Agricultural Research and the University of Navarra, through the PIUNA projects (Plan de research of the University of Navarra).