Degradation of Aflatoxin B in Dried Figs by Sodium Bisulfite With or Without Heat, Ultraviolet Energy or Hydrogen Peroxide.

Dried fig fruits were spiked to contain 250 ppb aflatoxin B (AFB) and treated with sodium bisulfite (1% in the aqueous phase of the mixture). This treatment caused 28.2% of added toxin to degrade in 72 h at 25°C. When hydrogen peroxide (HO, 0.2% in the aqueous phase) was added 10 min before the bisulfite treatment, 65.5% of added toxin was degraded in 72 h. In both instances, most of the degradation occurred during the second day of treatment. Heating bisulfite-treated samples at 45 to 65°C for 1 h caused up to 68.4% of added AFB to be degraded. Ultraviolet radiation (from a low-energy source) degraded 45.7% of AFB in fig samples that were treated for 30 min; the rate of degradation was not enhanced when bisulfite or HO was present during this treatment.