Combined effects of citric acid and pulsed light treatments to degrade B-aflatoxins in peanut

The aim of this study was to assess the combination of citric acid (CA) and pulsed light (PL) treatments on B-aflatoxins inactivation and the treatment's effects on the physicochemical properties of peanuts. AFT (B-1 and B-2) levels in peanuts after PL + CA treatment by ELISA and LC-MS-MS were measured and compared to untreated peanuts. The physiochemical properties of the treated samples were evaluated. Results indicate that the total number of AFTs were reduced by 98.2% (+/- 1.03) from the combined treatment (citric acid + PL). Moreover, LC-MS/MS results confirmed that the combined treatment (citric acid + PL) reduced AFT B-1 and B-2 up to 98.9% (+/- 0.8) and 98.1% (+/- 1.1), respectively. Differences were not significant (p > 0.05) between the evaluated chemical quality indices for all experiments, while significant (p <0.05) changes were recorded in color parameters. Further parameter optimization is required to achieve a commercially desired product. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.