Testing green coffee for ochratoxin A, part I: estimation of variance components.

The variability associated with testing lots of green coffee beans for ochratoxin A (OTA) was investigated. Twenty-five lots of green coffee were tested for OTA contamination. The total variance associated with testing green coffee was estimated and partitioned into sampling, sample preparation, and analytical variances. All variances increased with an increase in OTA concentration. Using regression analysis, mathematical expressions were developed to model the relationship between OTA concentration and the total, sampling, sample preparation, and analytical variances. The expressions for these relationships were used to estimate the variance for any sample size, subsample size, and number of analyses for a specific OTA concentration. Testing a lot with 5 microg/kg OTA using a 1 kg sample, Romer RAS mill, 25 g subsamples, and liquid chromatography analysis, the total, sampling, sample preparation, and analytical variances were 10.75 (coefficient of variation [CV] = 65.6%), 7.80 (CV = 55.8%), 2.84 (CV = 33.7%), and 0.11 (CV = 6.6%), respectively. The total variance for sampling, sample preparation, and analytical were 73, 26, and 1%, respectively.