Occurrence of patulin in conventional and organic fruit products in Italy and subsequent exposure assessment

The occurrence of patulin was investigated in 100 conventional and 69 organic fruity foodstuffs samples commercially available in Italy by using an HPLC method with a limit of quantification of 0.5 μg kg-1. Patulin was detected in 26 (26%) conventional and 31 (45%) organic products with a significantly higher (p<0.01) mean concentration in the organic products (4.78 vs. 1.15 μg kg-1). Mean patulin concentrations in conventional apple juices, pear juices, other juices and fruits purees were 3.14, 0.22, 0.19, 0.11 μg kg-1, respectively, and 7.11, 11.46, 2.10, 0.18 μg kg-1 in the relevant organic products. Four samples of juices (one conventional and two organic apple, and one organic pear) contained patulin at concentrations above the limit of 50 μg kg-1, four at concentrations between 10 and 25 μg kg-1, and the remaining ones below 10 μg kg-1. Patulin was detected (<1 μg kg-1) in only three of the 23 fruity baby food samples tested (homogenized fruits, 11 conventional and 12 organic). Based on the available data on Italian intakes of fruit juices, the estimated daily intakes of patulin, were 0.38 and 1.57 ng kg-1 body weight (bw) from conventional and organic products, respectively. Estimated daily intakes of patulin for children were higher, 3.41 ng kg-1 bw from conventional and 14.17 ng kg-1 bw from organic products, but largely below the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) of 400 ng kg-1 bw. Patulin was also found in two samples of organic apple vinegar (<5 μg kg-1) and in fresh apples with rotten spots (12 out of 24 samples) with maximum levels at 16 402 and 44 572 μg kg-1 for conventional and organic apples, respectively. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.