Incidence and level of patulin contamination in pure and mixed apple juices marketed in Italy

A survey on the occurrence of patulin was conducted during 2005 on commercial pure apple juices (53 samples) and mixed apple juices (82 samples) marketed in Italy. The current study was undertaken to investigate the possible influence of the agro-food production process employed (conventional or organic), of the fruit percentage in the commercial product (higher or lower than 50%) and of the type of apple juice (clear or cloudy) on the occurrence and level of patulin contamination. Patulin could be quantified in 34.8% of the samples ranging from 1.58 to 55.41 μg kg−1. With the exception of one sample, the level of patulin was lower than 50 μg kg−1, the maximum permitted threshold in fruit juices according to the European legislation. Mean levels of patulin were significantly lower in mixed apple juices (4.54 μg kg−1) than in pure apple juices (9.32 μg kg−1). Levels of patulin contamination were comparable in clear and cloudy juices. A similar incidence of positive samples was found in conventional and organic apple based juices, and the magnitude between the mean contamination levels, although higher in organic (10.92 μg kg−1) than in conventional juices (4.77 μg kg−1), was not statistically significant (p = 0.771; Mann–Whitney test). The magnitude between the means of patulin contamination in juices containing more than 50% fruit (11.26 μg kg−1) and in juices with 50% or less fruit (3.35 μg kg−1) was statistically significant (p = 0.016; Mann–Whitney test).