Drying in Brazil Nut Processing as Tool for Prevention of Contamination by Aflatoxins

Abstract

Drying is fundamental in the processing of Brazil nuts to prevent contamination by aflatoxins which are produced by fungi, as well as to extend the shelf life of the product. The binomial time/temperature is applied to guarantee the efficiency of drying stages. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the parameters of moisture content (mc) and water activity (Aw) in processed and unprocessed nuts obtained from a processing plant in the Amazonas state, Brazil, during the harvests of 2019 and 2020. Differences were observed regarding Aw between the harvests, and in processed and unprocessed samples. However, for mc, no differences between years or interaction between factors were observed. Processed samples from 2019 and 2020 showed a significant reduction in moisture content when compared to unprocessed samples and this may be because some modernization occurred in the drying process and raw material was stored under better conditions. We therefore conclude that the time/temperature binomial has a direct impact on product safety and should be applied from the moment of collection of raw material until the industrial process begins to guarantee economic maintenance of the production chain.

3-D network routing of Brazil nut harvesting in tropical forests

“…The collection points analyzed in this study could serve as support points for storage or drying of Brazil nuts. However, extraction methodologies are often carried out in precarious conditions, generating significant quantities of waste (Conforte, 2000;Kluczkovski et al, 2020). Prices of NTFPs also vary widely across countries (Torres, 2001;Chopra, 2020), which can be attributed to differences in distance between production areas and marketing centers, the quality of information available to extractivists about the market, and the organization of production.…”

Aflatoxins in raw Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa H.B.K.)

“…For the fungus to produce mycotoxins, such as AFL, it needs favorable conditions for its growth, such as: water activity, moisture content, pH, chemical composition of the food and temperature, as well as gene expression (Yunes et al, 2019), conditions easily found in tropical regions where Brazil nuts are collected. The extractive activity to collect the Brazil nuts in the forest is an element of biodiversity conservation in Amazonian conservation units that meet the needs and rights of traditional and indigenous people (Silva et al, 2020). The Brazil nut chain starts with the seed's extractive in the forest, and it is storage and transported for processing plants with different drying stages in a complex production chain (Taniwaki et al, 2019).…”