Degradation of Aflatoxins by Food Additives.

Degradation of four aflatoxins (AFB, AFB, AFG and AFG) by food additives was investigated. Pure aflatoxins were degraded by treatment with solutions of acidic food additives (hydrochloric acid:HCl and sulfuric acid:HSO), alkaline food additives (sodium bicarbonate:NaHCO, sodium carbonate:NaCO, sodium hydroxide:NaOH, sodium sulfite:NaSO, and sodium hypochlorite:NaOCl) and neutral food additives (potassium metabisulfite:KSO, sodium bisulfite:NaHSO, sodium hydrosulfite:NaSO, hydrogen peroxide:HO, sodium chlorite:NaClO, and ammonium peroxodisulfate:(ÑH)SO). 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 (KBrO), potassium nitrate (KNO), and sodium nitrite (NaNO) had no effect on aflatoxins. Of the aflatoxin added to corn, 20% AFB, remained after treatment with the solution of NaHSO (0.5%, 48 h), but all of the AFB was completely degraded by NaClO (0.25%, pH 4, 48 h) and (NH)SO (0.25%, 48 h) at 60°C. Of the aflatoxins added to butter beans, less than 20 and 5% of AFB remained after boiling treatment with a 2 and 0.5% solution of NaSO, respectively. These findings suggested that aflatoxins can be degraded or removed by treatment with food additives during food processing.