The Role of Postharvest Machineries and Packaging in Minimizing Aflatoxin Contamination in Peanut

Abstract

As a tropical country with relatively high humidity and temperature, Indonesia is struggling with aflatoxin which frequently contaminates peanut. Aflatoxin is a carcinogenic toxic substance that could cause liver cancer. Due to the increasing concern on food safety, the Indonesian Drugs and Foods Agency specifies the maximum aflatoxin allowed in peanut as much as 20 ppb. However, researches showed that aflatoxin contamination in peanut in Indonesia is much higher than the threshold. The study was carried out to observe the effect of using postharvest machineries and packaging treatments on aflatoxin contamination in peanut. Reduction of postharvest processes was conducted by using series of machineries, e.g. thresher, dryer, and sheller. Packaging treatments, e.g. vacuum plastic pack, hermetic glass chamber, and polyethylene (PE) plastic wrap were carried out during storage at ambient temperature (25-27°C). The results showed that using machineries in postharvest handling produced peanut free from aflatoxin contamination. However, without effective packaging, the aflatoxin level would increase during storage. Hermetic packaging could protect peanut from the mold as indicated by low level of aflatoxin contamination.

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Aflatoxin's Toll on Health: Insights into Human and Animal Impact

“…The mold-affected kernels must be removed for consumption. Paramawati et al (2006) showed postharvest machines such as threshers, dryers, and shellers improve yield and reduce processing and drying time. As a result, they are often linked to lower aflatoxin contamination in groundnuts.…”

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“…The use of hermetic triple-layer bags (PICS, Purdue Improved Crop Storage) for grain and kennel storage has proved effective against aflatoxin contamination over traditional storage devices (Murdock et al, 2003;Hell et al, 2010). Studies on hermetic packaging have showed that hermetic packages and containers are capable of protecting groundnuts from moulds and aflatoxin contamination (Paramawati et al, 2006). Apart from the storage containers, the condition of the kernels and the prevailing conditions in the storage structure are important factors that can influence aflatoxin contamination.…”