Review of Aflatoxin Reduction Potential of Antioxidants

Abstract

Pests and diseases are prevalent on food commodities such as maize, sorghum, millet, and cassava in the field and during storage. Toxigenic fungi such as Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium create mycotoxins, which are secondary metabolites. Both people and animals are susceptible to their mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic effects. Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasitic generate the most potent mycotoxins, which are found in agricultural products such as peanuts, maize grains, cereals, and animal feed. The most common incidence and stability of these mycotoxins to physical and chemical variables during food and feed processing offer substantial health risks to humans and animals. As a result, the best way to deal with this condition is to use both natural and synthetic detoxification methods. The goal of this review is to look at how natural and synthetic chemical approaches can be used to control aflatoxins contamination and how they can be reduced. Antioxidants are compounds that help prevent or reduce cell damage caused by free radicals, which are unstable molecules produced by the body in response to environmental and other stresses. Oxidative stress, which causes DNA, protein, and lipid damage at the cell level, is one of AFB1's harmful mechanisms. Antioxidants have been used as food additives to defend against oxidative deterioration since they are known to prevent fungal formation. Among the various options, antioxidants are one of the control methods of mycotoxin and which are regulated as dietary supplements and food consumption components. To reduce the effect of toxicity, the best way to prevent aflatoxin prevalence in agricultural products is to make suitable harvesting and storage conditions, but if that is not possible, it is better to eat fermented foods (yogurt or dairy drinks) or take probiotics, which are available as capsules, tablets, or powders.

Keywords: Aflatoxin; Antioxidants; Mycotoxin; Fermented-food; Toxicity.

DOI: 10.7176/CPER/64-02

Publication date: January 31^st 2022