Remediation Process for Aflatoxin Contaminated Foods

描述(申请人提供)：霉菌毒素是由农产品上的曲霉、青霉和镰刀菌产生的致癌化合物，影响世界上25%的粮食作物。黄曲霉毒素是由两种霉菌产生的天然真菌毒素：黄曲霉和寄生曲霉。美国食品和药物管理局(FDA)已经确定了食品中黄曲霉毒素的作用水平为20 ppb，牛奶中黄曲霉毒素M1的作用水平为0.5 ppb。这些限制是由该机构制定的，以提供足够的安全度，以保护人类和动物的健康。因此，目前仍需要对用于人和动物消费的受黄曲霉毒素污染的农产品进行脱毒的经济程序。补救方法，如使用臭氧氧化或氨化，在产品上留下不希望看到的味道和气味残留。第一阶段的研究将寻求确定使用一种廉价和对环境无害的溶剂提取坚果和坚果产品中的黄曲霉毒素的可行性和经济性，这种溶剂可以在不产生或留下有毒残留物的情况下去除毒素，保留营养价值，并且不会显著改变坚果的技术特性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Mycotoxins are carcinogenic compounds that are produced by Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium molds on agricultural produce and affect up to 25 per cent of the worlds food crops. Aflatoxins are naturally occurring mycotoxins produced by two types of mold: Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established action levels of 20 ppb for aflatoxin present in food and 0.5 ppb for aflatoxin M1 in milk. These limits are established by the Agency to provide an adequate margin of safety to protect human and animal health. As such there is an ongoing need for economic processes for de-toxifying aflatoxin contaminated agricultural products intended for human and animal consumption. Remediation methods such as oxidation using ozone or ammoniation leave undesirable taste and odor residues on the product. The research in the Phase I will seek to determine the feasibility and economics of extracting aflatoxins in nuts and nut products using a cheap and environmentally benign solvent, which removes the toxin without producing or leaving toxic residues, retains nutritive value and does not alter significantly the technological properties of the nut.