Research Progress on the Safety Risk of Ochratoxin A in Tea

Tea is one of the most consumed drinks in the world. Its drinking safety is particularly important for consumer's health and the development of tea industry. In recent years, the contamination of tea with mycotoxin has aroused widespread concern in the society, how to deal with this problem scientifically and objectively is crucial. Ochratoxin A(OTA) is a highly harmful fungal toxin. It’s produced by a wide variety of fungus, soluble in water and not easy to degrade, and has strong hepatorenal toxicity, teratogenic, mutagenic, carcinogenic and immunosuppressive effects. In this paper, the physicochemical characteristics, harm and toxicological mechanism, main toxogenic fungus and toxogenic conditions of OTA, possible OTA-producing microorganisms in tea as well as OTA detection methods and results are summarized. The potential risks of OTA in tea are analyzed and discussed, and suggestions are put forward to provide reference for the risk assessment, prevention and control of OTA contamination in tea.