Ozone Gas Antifungal Effect on Extruded Dog Food Contaminated with Aspergillus flavus

Decontamination of Aspergillus flavus spores in inoculated extruded food (Standard and Super-Premium types), through ozone (O-3) gas, was investigated at different concentrations (40 and 60 mu mol/mol) and times (30, 60, and 120 min) of exposure. The gas antifungal efficiency, humidity, and lipid stability were evaluated before and after treatments. O-3 reduced A. flavus spores of the extruded food, on both types (p < 0.05). The highest reduction (98.3%) was observed for both food types, when gas was applied for 120 min, regardless of the O-3 concentration. Regarding humidity and peroxide index, there was no difference, either prior to or after the gas application for all treatments conditions. O-3 gas can be an efficient method for fungi spores' contamination control during commercialization of extruded food in open bags exposed to the environment.