Potential use of plasma-activated water cleaning for aflatoxin B₁ degradation in peanuts

Aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) is a prevalent mycotoxin in oil crops, such as peanuts, with potent teratogenic and carcinogenic properties, posing a threat to human health. Plasma-activated water (PAW) with abundant active species is an emerging food decontamination technology. Herein, this study investigated the degradation efficiency and products of PAW on AFB₁, as well as the peanut quality. The findings showed that PAW achieved degradation efficiencies of 88.5 % and 87.6 % for AFB₁ in pure toxin and contaminated peanut models, while exerting a minimal impact on the levels of AV, MDA and FA in peanut oil. ¹O₂, H₂O₂ and ONOO^- contributed most to PAW degradation of AFB₁, forming low-toxicity products. Meanwhile, PAW can significantly diminish AFB₁ in the peanut cleaning solution, exhibiting benefits in environmental protection. As a result, PAW cleaning is anticipated to be applied in detoxifying peanuts prior to oil production to ensure the safety of edible peanut oil.