Degradation of Aflatoxins by Food Additives

Degradation of four aflatoxins (AFB₁, AFB₂, AFG₁ and AFG₂) by food additives was investigated. Pure aflatoxins were degraded by treatment with solutions of acidic food additives (hydrochloric acid:HCl and sulfuric acid:H₂SO₄), alkaline food additives (sodium bicarbonate:NaHCO₃, sodium carbonate:Na₂CO₃, sodium hydroxide:NaOH, sodium sulfite:Na₂SO₃, and sodium hypochlorite:NaOCl) and neutral food additives (potassium metabisulfite:K₂S₂O₅, sodium bisulfite:NaHSO₃, sodium hydrosulfite:Na₂S₂O₄, hydrogen peroxide:H₂O₂, sodium chlorite:NaClO₂, and ammonium peroxodisulfate:(ÑH₄)₂S₂O₈). The aflatoxins were treated with these neutral food additives under several conditions, and the effects of treatment temperature, time, and concentration of food additives on aflatoxin degradation were studied. Potassium bromate (KBrO₃), potassium nitrate (KNO₃), and sodium nitrite (NaNO₂) had no effect on aflatoxins. Of the aflatoxin added to corn, 20% AFB, remained after treatment with the solution of NaHSO₃ (0.5%, 48 h), but all of the AFB₁ was completely degraded by NaClO₂ (0.25%, pH 4, 48 h) and (NH₄)₂S₂O₈ (0.25%, 48 h) at 60°C. Of the aflatoxins added to butter beans, less than 20 and 5% of AFB₁ remained after boiling treatment with a 2 and 0.5% solution of Na₂S₂O₄, respectively. These findings suggested that aflatoxins can be degraded or removed by treatment with food additives during food processing.