Evaluation of the Use of Gamma Radiation for Reduction of Aflatoxin B1 in Corn (<i>Zea mays</i>) Used in the Production of Feed for Broiler Chickens

Abstract

Corn is one of the main grasses used to produce human or animal food. One of the main problems with the use of corn is the presence of mycotoxins, where aflatoxin B 1 is one of the most harmful for human and animal health. Chemical methods such as the addition of antifungals and sequestrants are used to control this contaminant in food; however, these methods can leave dangerous residues. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of irradiation with gamma rays on corn for the control of aflatoxin B 1 . For this purpose, three treatments were compared: treatment 1, application of gamma radiation, treatment 2, application of antifungal and treatment 3, combination of gamma radiation and application of antifungal. Corn without exposure to any control of aflatoxin was used as a witness group. Irradiation doses of 2, 6 and 10 kGy were tested, and the dose of 6 kGy was selected as the best since it lowered aflatoxin B 1 more effectively. The corn analyzed in this study was stored during 45 days at 23˚C, and every 15 days. We determined the concentration of aflatoxin B 1 , presence or absence of pathogenic microorganisms and insects, and we evaluated the physicochemical characteristics of the grain. Then, the treatments were compared and treatment 1, only irradiation with gamma rays, proved to be significantly more effective in the reduction of aflatoxin B 1 and the total inhibition of the survival of the insects during the 45 days of storage which allowed better preservation of the protein. than 13%. The cost production of a bag of 40 kg of feed was also estimated in USD 22.56; which is 1.80% greater than the cost corresponding to the conventional process that uses mycotoxin sequestrants.

Adverse Effects, Transformation and Channeling of Aflatoxins Into Food Raw Materials in Livestock

“…Dehulling removed 92% of the initial aflatoxin content from corn kernel Siwela et al, 2005 Aflatoxin residuals in corn after crushing and dehulling was almost negligible Fandohan et al, 2005 Dehulling decreased AF content of corn by 5.5-70% Mutungi et al, 2008 Dehulling and whitening of rice kernel resulted 96% decrease in AF content in polished broken grains and 79% in polished whole kernels Castells et al, 2007 Dehulling of corn kernels resulted in 88 and 92% reduction in AFB 1 and AFB 2 levels Matumba et al, 2015 Reduction, destruction Pulsed light treatment (0.52 J/cm 2 /pulse in spectrum of 100-1100 nm with a xenon flash lamp) resulted 75-90% decreases in AFB 1 and AFB 2 contents of rice and rice bran Wang et al, 2016 6 and 10 kGy gamma irradiation doses resulted 90 and 95% reduction in AFB 1 , respectively Serra et al, 2018 In peanuts, 5-9 kGy gamma irradiation doses result 20-43% decrease in aflatoxins, microwave radiation at 360, 480, and 600 W resulted 59-67% decrease, combined treatments have higher than 95% efficiency Patil et al, 2019 Destruction by cold plasma Hazelnuts, peanuts, and pistachio nuts treated with air gases plasma for 20 min resulted 50% decrease in total aflatoxins, SF 6 plasma application resulted only 20%reduction Basaran et al, 2008 Atmospheric plasma generated with 400-1150 W power for 1-12 min resulted 46-71% decrease in AFB 1 in peanuts Siciliano et al, 2016 High voltage atmospheric cold plasma applied for 1 and 10 min resulted 62 and 82% reduction in AFs levels of corn.…”

“…Several radiation sources have been evaluated thus far and many of them were found to be effective. For example, the advantageous effects of UV in liquid phase (Patras et al, 2017), gamma irradiation in corn (Markov et al, 2015;Serra et al, 2018), in other cereal kernels (Mohamed et al, 2015), in peanuts (Patil et al, 2019) and in poultry feed (Herzallah et al, 2008) have been reported in a number of publications. Direct sunlight was also effective in aflatoxin reduction in poultry feed (Herzallah et al, 2008) and, in addition to exposures to direct light, the applicability of pulsed light has also been tested and evaluated, and it has already been employed in new decontamination technologies (Moreau et al, 2013).…”

Study on the Effects of Gamma Irradiation on Protocorm-Like Bodies of Dendrobium Hybrid against Fusarium proliferatum and Fusarium oxysporum

“…Previous studies have also reported that gamma irradiation reduces disease incident from various pathogens such as virus, fungi, nematodes and bacteria (Ali et al 2015). Gamma radiation has been used for reduction of Aflatoxin B 1 in corn (Zea mays) used in the production of feed for broiler chickens (Serra et al 2018). Besides, it was reported that gamma irradiation along with heat treatment had synergistic effect in the reduction of bacterial and fungal spores during storage of cereals (Dikkala et al 2018).…”

Physical and Chemical Methods for Reduction in Aflatoxin Content of Feed and Food

“…Gamma irradiation reduces both the number of fungi and the AFB1 content of naturally contaminated corn kernels: irradiation doses between 1 and 10 kGy can result in 69.8 and 94.5% mycotoxin reductions, respectively [ 55 , 56 ]. For corn, wheat, and rice kernels, 4, 6, and 8 kGy doses were found effective in 15–56% AF reductions by the increasing doses [ 54 ].…”