Polymeric substances for the removal of ochratoxin A from red wine followed by computational modeling of the complexes formed

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by filamentous-type fungi that contaminates a wide variety of foods and beverages such as wines. In these trials, we evaluated the capacity of the following polymers for the removal of OTA from acidic model solutions and red wine: polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP), resin of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and triallyl isocyanurate (PVP-DEGMA-TAIC), and poly(acrylamide-co-ethylene glycol-dimethacrylate) (PA-EGDMA). In acidic model solution, PVP-DEGMA-TAIC and PA-EGDMA polymers removed up to 99.9% of OTA, but their trapping capacity was highly reduced by the presence of competing phenolic substances (i.e. gallic acid and 4-methylcathecol). In real red wine, PA-EGDMA polymer showed the most promising results, with more than 68.0% OTA removal and less than 14.0% reduction in total phenolic. Finally, computational chemistry analyses showed that the affinity between OTA and the polymers studied would be due to Van der Waals interactions.