Development and understanding the efficacy of advanced technologies for mycotoxin detection and degradation in feed materials

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Mycotoxins can be carcinogenic and neurotoxic, and their presence in feed materials pose significant hazard to livestock and human health. Rapid detection and subsequent effective degradation of mycotoxins can reduce food and feed safety risks significantly. Advancement in science and technological innovations offers knowledge for the development of methods for rapid detection and effective degradation of multiple mycotoxins in feed materials. Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices have the capability to achieve the determination in a high-throughput and cost-effective manner by manipulating sample flow on a piece of patterned paper. Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) is a sustainable, green, non-thermal disinfection technology. It has the potential to reduce mycotoxins in food and feed products. As an emerging new technology, little knowledge is available regarding the response of mycotoxins identified in feed materials (e.g., deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and ergot alkaloids in canola grains and meal) to ACP treatment. The objectives of this project are to: 1) develop novel paper-based microfluidic devices for rapid detection of mycotoxins in feeds and 2) identify major parameters influencing mycotoxin and fungal spore degradation to develop ACP technology. The information obtained from this project will help us develop advanced mycotoxin detection and degradation technologies and their future scale-up. This project can also help food and feed industry to reduce the prevalence of mycotoxins in their products. In a long term, we also aim to establish a research program based on advanced detection and disinfection technologies at University of Alberta and University of British Columbia to achieve industrial scale-up of these technologies.