Effect of Lobesia botrana damages on black aspergilli rot and ochratoxin A content in grapes

Sixty-nine wine grape samples of two varieties (Bombino Nero and Uva di Troia) were collected from four vineyards in a high ochratoxin A (OTA) incidence grape-growing area in Apulia, southern Italy, during the 2001 and 2002 crop harvests. The levels of toxin, measured in the two year harvests, ranged from 0.02 to 681 ng/g of fresh berries. In both surveys, higher levels of contamination by black aspergilli and OTA were found in both intact and rotten berries originating from bunches damaged by Lobesia botrana larvae as compared to bunches without L. botrana attacks. All berry samples with an OTA level > 1 ng/g were contaminated by black aspergilli with a CFU > 106, and all but one of these samples belonged to the Lobesia damaged berries group. This is the first evidence of an interaction between L. botrana damaged berries and OTA contamination, in field.