Emerging technologies for mycotoxins removal from foods: Recent advances, roles in sustainable food consumption, and strategies for industrial applications
Mohsen Gavahian, Shyang‐Chwen Sheu, Marciane Magnani, Amin Mousavi Khaneghah
Abstract
Food contamination with mycotoxin is a severe concern around the world. Unfortunately, conventional processing technologies, such as cooking, have low efficiency against these hazardous chemicals, so that many of the products are contaminated with mycotoxins. On the other hand, some emerging processing technologies (e.g., cold plasma and ultrasound) have been introduced as valuable tools for mycotoxin decontamination. The performance of different emerging technologies in mycotoxin decontamination depends on system design, processing conditions, type of mycotoxin, and food composition. Similarly, the mechanisms of mycotoxin decontamination vary from physical to chemical phenomena and depend on the type of technology and processing conditions. In this regard, the current review was undertaken to provide an overview regarding the performance, advantages, and disadvantages of each of the commonly used emerging processing technologies for decontamination of mycotoxins. Considerations highlighted in this work may contribute to sustainable food consumption through the industrial application of emerging technologies. Novelty impact statement This study focuses on strategies for industrial applications of emerging technologies for mycotoxin removal from foods. Challenges were discussed, and strategies to address them were proposed. Also, the emerging technologies were compared in parallel based on the recent advances in this field. It was explained that mycotoxin degradation by emerging technologies can be efficient at lab scales but challenging at the industrial level. Besides, the lack of up-scale and high-cost is limiting applications of emerging technologies. Furthermore, the safety of mycotoxins-degraded products needs to be assessed. The possibility of achieving sustainable food consumption through such approaches was highlighted in this study.