The Effect of Thermal Processing on the Degradation of Aflatoxin B₁ Within Matrix Iranian Traditional Pastries

Food contamination with aflatoxins is a significant problem worldwide, and many countries have set limits for mycotoxin presence in feed and food commodities. In this study to evaluate the effect of temperature on the degradation of aflatoxin B1 in a food matrix, the concentration of aflatoxin B1 in 90 samples including pistachio nut, pistachio confection, and baklava bakemeat were evaluated by FL-HPLC after clean-up of extracts through Aflatest IACs. It is noteworthy that pistachio nuts containing aflatoxinB1 were used to produce pistachio confection and Baklava bakemeat. Also, the physical-chemical and microbial properties of samples and environmental factors affecting the concentration of aflatoxinB1 were surveyed. Results showed that there was no significant correlation between humidity and temperature of the production and packaging shop floors, moisture, and peroxide of samples with aflatoxin concentration. Only temperatures above 20 ^°C had a significant relationship with the probability of contamination to aflatoxinB1. But, with an increase in the rate of the humidity shop floor, peroxide, and moisture of product the probability of aflatoxinB1 contamination increased. Also, there was a significant relationship between mold counting and pH over 6.3 with the aflatoxin concentration of samples. The concentration of aflatoxin B1 in pistachio confection decreased by 19.81% and in baklava bakemeat by 36.93% compared to pistachio nuts. Regarding the different processes of baklava bakemeat and pistachio confection production, it seems that despite the effect of the food matrix, the temperature has an effective role in reducing the concentration of aflatoxin B1