EFFICACY OF OZONE TREATMENT ON MYCOTOXINS AND FUNGAL REDUCTION IN ARTIFICIALLY CONTAMINATED SOFT WHEAT GRAINS

The effects of O-3 concentration, exposure time and grain mass were evaluated on the levels of deoxynivalenol, aflatoxins and total fungal count (TFC) in wheat grains, using a full 2(3) factorial design. Grain samples were contaminated with fungal conidia and spiked with mycotoxins standards and then submitted to ozonation treatments. The most significant reductions obtained for deoxynivalenol and total aflatoxins corresponded to 64.3 and 48.0%, respectively. TFC reduced approximately 3.0 cycles log cfu/g of wheat grain. O-3 concentration and exposure time influenced (P < 0.05) positively the reductions of both mycotoxins and TFC, while the grain mass had a negative effect on both responses. The most significant reduction in TFC and mycotoxin levels was achieved by using 60 mg/L of O-3 for 300 min, with 2 kg samples. Gaseous O-3 can be considered an excellent method for remediation of these contaminants.