Use of Cold Atmospheric Plasma to Detoxify Hazelnuts from Aflatoxins

Abstract

Aflatoxins, produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, can contaminate different foodstuffs, such as nuts. Cold atmospheric pressure plasma has the potential to be used for mycotoxin detoxification. In this study, the operating parameters of cold atmospheric pressure plasma were optimized to reduce the presence of aflatoxins on dehulled hazelnuts. First, the effect of different gases was tested (N2, 0.1% O2 and 1% O2, 21% O2), then power (400, 700, 1000, 1150 W) and exposure time (1, 2, 4, and 12 min) were optimized. In preliminary tests on aflatoxin standard solutions, this method allowed to obtain a complete detoxification using a high power for a few minutes. On hazelnuts, in similar conditions (1000 W, 12 min), a reduction in the concentration of total aflatoxins and AFB1 of over 70% was obtained. Aflatoxins B1 and G1 were more sensitive to plasma treatments compared to aflatoxins B2 and G2, respectively. Under plasma treatment, aflatoxin B1 was more sensitive compared to aflatoxin G1. At the highest power, and for the longest time, the maximum temperature increment was 28.9 °C. Cold atmospheric plasma has the potential to be a promising method for aflatoxin detoxification on food, because it is effective and it could help to maintain the organoleptic characteristics.

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.…”

“…Cold plasma treatment is another possible physical treatment against pathogens and fungal toxins. Cold plasma is generally a result of atmospheric dielectric discharge, and the effects of pressure (atmospheric or vacuum), air composition, humidity and flow rate, discharging power and treatment time are under continuous evaluation nowadays in different cereals and nuts (Basaran et al, 2008;Siciliano et al, 2016;Shi et al, 2017;Misra et al, 2019;Sen et al, 2019). Cold plasma treatments are cost effective, ecologically neutral and have only a negligible effect on the quality of the grains when compared to classical detoxification methods (Hojnik et al, 2017).…”

Effect of Atmospheric Cold Plasma Treatments on Reduction of Alternaria Toxins Content in Wheat Flour

“…Degradation of mycotoxins is being studied worldwide with different types of plasma sources. Cold atmospheric plasma could possibly overcome the greatest disadvantages of classical techniques and provide a sustainable solution for mycotoxins detoxification [26][27][28][29]. Cold plasma is a weakly ionized, quasi-neutral gas with rich chemistry containing a wide variety of highly reactive species and ultraviolet radiation that are shown to be efficient in degradation of mycotoxins.…”

Biodegradation of aflatoxins by bacteria

“…Harmful effects caused by this dangerous toxin have directed researchers towards finding new strategies for prevention and detoxification in order to preserve the safety of products intended for human consumption (Ben Salah-Abbes et al, Therefore, several approaches have been applied to detoxify AFs in crops and during postharvest (Spadaro & Garibaldi, 2017), as physical, chemical and biological methods (Siciliano et al, 2016). The chief problems with chemical and physical methods are their restricted range of effect on different mycotoxins and some chemicals may lead to drop in animal health.…”