Grain aflatoxins and ways to minimize risks of their accumulation

The danger of aflatoxins accumulation in food is still an urgent global problem. Even their minimum number can be harmful for human health. The International Agency for Research on Cancer identified the mixture of aflatoxins as carcinogens of the first group. Besides aflatoxins have teratogenic, hepatotoxic, cytotoxic and genotoxic effects on the human body. The maximum permissible levels of aflatoxins in food vary ranging from 0.0005 to 0.3 mg/kg according to the type of aflatoxin, the type of food and the economic status of the country. The restrictions imposed in each country are currently based on several critical factors, such as the number of toxic compounds in primary and secondary raw materials, the consumption of contaminated products, the literacy rate of the population, the technological level and the climatic conditions of the country. But despite this, there are still cases of aflatoxin accumulation in food products in different countries of the world. Therefore, it is necessary to strive for complete disinfection of raw materials and eliminate the possibility of accumulation of both aflatoxins and all kinds of mycotoxins in finished products. The main dangerous factors leading to the intensification of the accumulation of aflatoxins in wheat grain are the increase in relative humidity when stored and self-heating processes. The article considers the innovative methods of reducing risks of mycotoxins accumulation in food raw materials and finished food products. It is noted that several innovative methods of mold deactivation and aflatoxins destruction in food products (with the use of cold plasma, high frequency ultrasonic exposure) have been developed and studied recently. They show good results and are considered to be promising methods to minimize risks of getting aflatoxins in finished food products.