Detoxification of Aflatoxins in Foods and Feeds by Physical and Chemical Methods ¹

Detoxification of aflatoxin contaminated foods has been a continuing challenge for the food industry. This article examines primarily the detoxification of aflatoxin B₁ in foods and feeds. The sensitivity of aflatoxins to physical or chemical treatments is affected by many factors including moisture content, location of the toxins in the food, forms of the food, and interactions of the toxins with food components. Thus, it is important to understand these factors before a specific detoxification method can be recommended. In addition, the use of any applicable treatment conditions should not cause undesirable alterations to the nutritional and organoleptic qualities of the foods. The combined use of physical and chemical treatment procedures appear to provide a better prospect than the use of only a single treatment procedure. A reevaluation of the present processing conditions may shed light on the development of modified procedures to effectively degrade aflatoxins in foods, while still achieving other processing objectives.