Abstract
Corn is one of the most cultivated cereals in Brazil. However, its grains are constantly exposed to contamination by mycotoxins. Corn grits are used by the food industry to produce a large variety of corn products such as canjiquinha, a cultural food easily purchased by the Brazilian consumer at low prices. Some studies have demonstrated high contamination of this product by aflatoxins (AFs), representing a potential risk of exposure due to such a contamination. In this study, the efficacy of gaseous ozonation was evaluated on the levels of aflatoxins and on the microbial contamination of corn grits. The application of gaseous ozone was tested in different combinations of exposure time, ozone concentration, and canjiquinha mass. After the ozonation treatment, samples were collected for aflatoxin and microbiological analyses. Aflatoxins were evaluated using a high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD) system using pre-column derivatization, and the microbiological analyses were carried out for toxin-producer fungi and mesophilic bacteria. After ozone detoxification, results showed reductions up to 57% in aflatoxin levels. Total fungal count was reduced around 3.0 cycles log CFU g−1 and total mesophilic counts were reduced to non-detectable levels. These results demonstrated that ozonation is an effective alternative for reducing aflatoxin and microbial contamination in products like canjiquinha, thereby improving food safety.
Highlights
Maize or corn (Zea mays L.) is a cereal of extreme importance in the diets of many populations, contributing especially as a source of energy because of its high content of starches, proteins (8–13.7%), fatty acids (4–5.4%), as well as vitamins and minerals [1,2]
We evaluated the effects of gaseous ozonation applied to corn grits, including the levels of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, and G2), fungal contamination, and total mesophilic count
Plate count agar (PCA), used for total mesophilic count, Dichloran Rose Bengal Chloramphenicol (DRBC) agar, malt extract agar (MEA), and potato dextrose agar (PDA) used in fungal analyses were obtained from Himedia (Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil)
Summary
Maize or corn (Zea mays L.) is a cereal of extreme importance in the diets of many populations, contributing especially as a source of energy because of its high content of starches (up to 73% of kernel weight), proteins (8–13.7%), fatty acids (4–5.4%), as well as vitamins and minerals [1,2]. Some species of toxigenic fungi, such as Aspergillus spp., can develop in corn kernels and produce aflatoxins (AFs) under suitable conditions. These metabolites are highly toxic to humans and animals, especially the forms AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2, which have been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as genotoxic and carcinogenic molecules [5]. When directly applied on cereal grains, the molecular O3 and the hydroxyl radicals (·OH) generated in the process can react with mycotoxins, promoting their degradation to lower molecular weight products, eliminating or reducing their biological activity in terms of toxicity [14,15]. We evaluated the effects of gaseous ozonation applied to corn grits, including the levels of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, and G2), fungal contamination, and total mesophilic count
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