Unravelling the pathways of air plasma induced aflatoxin B₁ degradation and detoxification

Aflatoxins are considered to be a critical dietary risk factor for humans, with aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) identified by the WHO as one of the most potent natural group 1 carcinogen. Despite this, more than half of the world's population is chronically exposed, resulting in up to 170,000 annual cases of human hepatocellular carcinoma cancer. Here we report an easily implemented approach using non-equilibrium plasma for targeted degradation of AFB₁. Apart from reaching the 100 % decontamination in less than 120 s of treatment, this is the first study that combines hypersensitive analytical methods such as high-resolution mass spectroscopy (HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to provide a detailed description of CAP mediated AFB₁ degradation. We identify rapid scission of the vinyl bond between 8- and 9-position on the terminal furan ring of AFB₁ as being of paramount importance for the suppression of toxic potential, which is confirmed by the examination of both cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. The plasma reactive species mediated degradation pathways are elucidated, and it is demonstrated that the approach not only renders AFB₁ harmless but does so in order of magnitude less time than UV irradiation as one of the other non-thermal methods currently under investigation.