Natural co-occurrence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in liquorice roots

The natural co-occurrence of aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in liquorice roots obtained from different herbal outlets of Karachi, Pakistan, was evaluated. A total of 60 samples were obtained during 2019‒2021 and analysed using HPLC with fluorescence detection. The method was validated according to the European Union (EU) regulation. The incidence of AFs was 52 in all tested samples (87%), with a contamination range of 1.2‒6.4 µg kg^-1 and an average of 2.1 ± 0.3 µg kg^-1. In all samples, the AFs contamination was below the maximum limit (ML) of 10 µg kg^-1 for total AFs as set by the EU. The OTA contamination in all samples ranged 1.5‒60.3 µg kg^-1, with a mean of 18.9 ± 0.8 µg kg^-1. In 36 samples (60%) the OTA contamination was below the ML of 20 µg kg^-1 as set by the EU. These results led to the recommendation to test liquorice root on mycotoxins, as it comes to food quality standards.