Res. Asst. Ayşe Seray Engin's new article published!
A new article by Res. Asst. Ayşe Seray Engin, an academic member at the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA), Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU), has been published.
Res. Asst. Ayşe Seray Engin's article titled "Monitoring of Ochratoxin A Occurrence and Dietary Intake in Tarhana, a Fermented Cereal-Based Product" has been published. The article, in which Res. Asst. Ayşe Seray Engin is one of the authors, consists of eight authors. The article was published in the Foods journal, which is ranked in Q1.
From the abstract of the article; “The aim of this study was to determine mold and ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination in tarhana, a traditional product widely consumed in Turkish cuisine. For this purpose, 350 tarhana samples (homemade and industrially produced) randomly collected from retail stores, markets and bazaars in different regions of Türkiye were analyzed for the presence of OTA by LC-MS/MS. According to the results, OTA was detected in 36 (24%) of 150 industrially produced tarhana samples, with a concentration range of 0.12-2.34 µg/kg, while OTA was found in 118 (59%) of homemade tarhana samples in the range of 0.16-4.15 µg/kg. Only 8 (4%) of 350 homemade tarhana samples were found to be above the maximum permissible limit (3.0 µg/kg). Mold contamination in homemade tarhana (3,756 log CFU/g) was higher than that in industrially produced tarhana. samples (2.742 log CFU/g). The estimated weekly intake values of OTA through tarhana consumption were well below the provisional tolerable weekly intake values for both industrially produced and homemade tarhana samples, even when consumed every day of the week. This suggests that dietary intake of OTA through tarhana consumption does not pose a health risk. In conclusion, optimizing the fermentation and drying conditions applied during tarhana production and ensuring appropriate hygiene conditions may help reduce the risk of OTA contamination. In addition, regular monitoring and testing of OTA levels in tarhana may also ensure the food safety of this product.”
The article is imprinted as follows:
Akkaya, E., Akhan, M., Cakmak Sancar, B., Hampikyan, H., Engin, A. S., Cetin, O., Bingol, E. B., & Colak, H. (2025). Monitoring of Ochratoxin A Occurrence and Dietary Intake in Tarhana, a Fermented Cereal-Based Product. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 14(3), 443. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14030443
Click here to access the full text of the article.
We congratulate Res. Asst. Ayşe Seray Engin and wish her continued academic studies.
