@article{icrisat1779,
            year = {2001},
           title = {Occurrence of ochratoxin A in black pepper, coriander, ginger and turmeric in India},
           pages = {830--835},
          author = {K T Devi and M A Mayo and G Reddy and K E Emmanuel and Y Larondelle and D V R Reddy},
          volume = {18},
         journal = {Food Additives and Contaminants},
          number = {9},
             url = {http://oar.icrisat.org/1779/},
        abstract = {Ochratoxin A (OA) contamination of black pepper, coriander seeds, powdered ginger and turmeric powder was estimated using indirect competitive ELISA. Samples (1 g) were extracted with 0.5\% potassium chloride (KCl) in 70\% methanol (5 ml) and diluted subsequently to give two-fold to ten-fold step-wise dilutions in phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.05\% Tween 20 and 0.2\% bovine serum albumin (PBS-T BSA). For extracts from the spices analysed, ELISA estimates of OA concentrations were compared with those made by HPLC. All estimates were within 1-2 standard deviation of the ELISA values. More than 90\% of OA added to spice samples was recovered from samples containing between 5 and 100 microg/kg OA. Extracts of OA-free spice samples contained substances that interfered with ELISA, presumably because of non-specific reactions. This effect was avoided by preparing all the test solutions in extracts of OA-free spice samples. In 126 samples obtained from retail shops, OA was found to exceed 10 microg/kg in 14 (in the range of 15-69 microg/kg) of 26 black pepper samples, 20 (in the range of 10-51 microg/kg) of 50 coriander samples, two (23 microg/kg and 80 microg/kg) of 25 ginger samples and nine (in the range of 11-102 microg/kg) of 25 turmeric samples. This is the first record in India of the occurrence of OA in what are some of the most widely used spices in Indian cooking.}
}