Decrease in Aflatoxin M₁ Concentration in Milk during Cholesterol Removal by Application of β-Cyclodextrin

Approximately one-third of humankind is chronically exposed to the carcinogenic aflatoxin M₁ contained in milk. As β-cyclodextrin is frequently used in the food industry, its effect on aflatoxin M₁ concentration was investigated during cholesterol removal from milk due to the similarity among the physicochemical properties of aflatoxin M₁ and cholesterol. Moreover, the elimination of cholesterol using β-cyclodextrin has been successfully applied in many studies without any substantial effect on the quality of the treated milk. Therefore, milk samples were spiked with aflatoxin M₁ within the range from 0.20 to 2.00 µg/kg, and cholesterol removal was carried out by 2.0% (w/w) β-cyclodextrin addition, as this concentration is enough for the sufficient removal of cholesterol. It was found that the mean cholesterol concentration decreased by 92.3%, while the aflatoxin M₁ concentration decreased to 0.53 ± 0.04 µg/kg, i.e., by 39.1% after treatment (n = 2). This mitigation procedure itself is easy and inexpensive and thus is fully applicable with a high potential for complete decontamination of aflatoxin M₁ milk. This method will therefore considerably improve the food safety issues associated with aflatoxin M₁ presence in milk and dairy products.