Current major degradation methods for aflatoxins: A review

Aflatoxins are strong cancerogenic compounds predominantly produced by certain strains of the Aspergillus genus. Due to their extreme stability in different conditions, it is very difficult to remove them completely in human diet and animal feeds. In this way aflatoxins are triggering numerous healthy problems (such as liver cancer) and thus becoming a huge burden to the hygiene system and food industry worldwide. Therefore, seeking for an effective technique to degrade aflatoxins to a threshold level has been a “hot-topic” among researchers. Traditional methods to detoxify aflatoxins include physical and chemical treatments, such as an extrusion cooking process and ammoniation, respectively. Meanwhile a bio-degradation by microorganisms gains its popularity due to its friendliness to both environment and body health. Natural phytochemicals (plant extracts) which have great capability to remove aflatoxins without causing any damage on human and animals come out as an improvement. However, a fully and systematically discussion of the methods of detoxification for aflatoxins is still not available. Therefore, in the present review we briefly enumerate several traditional strategies, update newly methods, particularly the potential use of natural phytochemicals, and discuss some mechanisms during the detoxification period, summarizing merits and demerits of these methods. We suggest that this important information and our humble opinions could help researchers to understand the degradation of methods for aflatoxins.