Ochratoxin (OTAs) are among toxic secondary metabolites produced by seven species of
Aspergillus and 6 species of Penicillium (
60). Type A, is the most toxic form contaminating a variety of foodstuff (
61). OTA is also known as a fat-soluble substance, which can be excreted and concentrated in fatty tissues. Nephrotoxic, immunosuppressive, teratogenic, and carcinogenic effects of OTA have also been reported in some studies (
62). The IARC has classified AFTs into the group of primary risk factors for cancer and OTA as the secondary ones in humans (2B group) (
63). According to the WHO, the TDI for OTA has been suggested about 5 ng OTA/kg body weight/day (
64). Some studies conducted in Iran have further reported OTA in rice in which the mean concentration of OTA has been lower than MTL of 5 µg/kg (
29). In 2013, OTA was tested in samples of rice in six different provinces in Iran, and the mean OTA in rice was reported by 0.84 - 11.37 ng/g. Therefore, the estimated TDI of OTA for an Iranian adult was 0.62 ng/kg bw/day, which was less than the PMTDI of 14 ng/kg bw/day established by the JECFA (2001) and less than the TDI of 17.1 ng/kg bw set by the EFSA (2006). The highest frequency of positive samples was found in Isfahan Province (11.37 ng/g) (
24). In a study in Tehran, the amount of OTA was measured using HPLC. The levels of OTA in positive samples ranged from 0.2 to 4.8 ng.g
-1, with the mean contamination of 1.6 ng.g
-1 in all the samples (
29). In the study by Gholampour Azizi et al. (
25), a total number of 80 rice samples were analyzed for OTA in Mazandaran Province, Iran, using DC-ELISA. None of the samples were reported to be contaminated by > 5 μg/kg of OTA. In this regard, samples that had > 5 μg/kg of OTA contamination more than the acceptable limit were only reported in the cities of Sari, Nowshahr, and Ramsar (
25). Another investigation showed that OTA contamination in 21.4% of Iranian rice samples was lower than standards set in Iran and the EU (European Union). The levels of OTA contamination in Iranian rice samples were also significantly 0.72% (ng/g) higher than that in the imported ones (
65).
Based on incomplete information in the related literature, it was assumed that OTA was not of importance in terms of mycotoxin contamination of rice in Iran. However, conditions of rice contamination by OTA were reported significant in Isfahan Province because of their high average contents and ranges of positive samples, which needed continuous monitoring.