water activity meter (Decagon Device Inc. Pullman, WA, USA). All a w measurements
were within +_0.005 units of the desired value in the experimental design.
Fifty g of the sterile peanuts were then weighed into 150 × 15-ram petri dishes and
inoculated with 10 4 spores of A. flauus. For each packaging condition, six inoculated
plates and two non-inoculated plates (control) were packaged in high gas
barrier bags. Three of the packaged plates were used for growth studies while the
remaining three were used for aflatoxin analysis.