SCIENTIFIC REPORT ON OCCURRENCE OF CITRININE IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Citrinin is a nephrotoxic mycotoxin from the group of polyketides synthesized by moulds of genera Penicillium (P. citrinum, P. viridicatum, P. expansum, P. notatum), Aspergillus and Monascus. Citrinin can be found in cereals with small grains (wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice) and large grains (corn), oilseeds (peanuts), fruits, vegetables, fruit juices, spices and in dairy products since cereals are basis for the feed. Commonly, citrinin is formed after harvest, under poor storage conditions, i.e. in silos. In 2012, the European Food Safety Authority published a Scientific Opinion on the risks for public and animal health related to the presence of citrinin in food and feed. Since data on the occurrence of citrinin in food and feed are insufficient, in recent years, EFSA in its calls for continuous data collection on the occurrence of certain contaminants has include the collection of additional data on citrinin. Therefore, the Croatian Food Agency (present the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food) in 2017, at the suggestion of its Scientific Panel for Chemical Hazards, was launched a threeyear study of the occurrence of citrinin in cereals (wheat, barley, corn) in four Croatian counties (Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Koprivnica-Križevci and Međimurje). Results of the study were used for preparation of this scientific report. Statistical analysis of data was performed by use Statistics 13.3. software package. The results of a three-year study conducted by the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food show very high percentage of samples in which the concentration of citrinin was below the limit of quantification (LOQ), that only 5% of the samples were above the LOQ in concentration from 8.0 μg/kg to 132 μg/kg. Comparison the results between examined years (2017, 2018 and 2019) showed that there is a statistically significant difference in distribution of data at the determined citrinin concentration, (p = 0.0174). Furthermore, the Kruskal – Wallis ANOVA test showed that there is no statistically significant difference in the distribution of citrinin concentration data between different types of cereals (p = 0.4953), and there is no statistically significant difference between the distribution of data by counties (p = 0.659). Given the insufficient number of data on the occurrence and toxicity of citrinin both in the Republic of Croatia and in Europe, it is necessary to conduct continuous collection of data on occurrence in order to define the toxicological limit and maximum levels for different types of products.efsa.focalpoint@hapih.h