the factors affecting the sanitary quality of feeds prepared
with this grain is mycotoxin contamination produced by
certain species of fungi, among them Aspergillus flavus.
This fungus is responsible for the production of a series
of highly toxic substances, named ‘aflatoxins’. In 1987 the
International Agency for the Investigation in Cancer stated
that aflatoxins represent a high potential risk for cancer
in humans (IARC 1987).
The increasing number of reports pertaining to the
presence of mycotoxins in foods and feeds dictates the
need for practical and economical detoxification procedures.
Ideally, such methods should totally remove the
toxin, or at least reduce the aflatoxin concentration below
regulatory limits, minus the production of toxic degradation
products or any reduction in the nutritional value of
the treated commodity.
In modern food ⁄ feed manufacturing technology, raw
materials are subjected to heat treatments to improve
the quality of the processed products. Industrial heat
treatments degrade mycotoxins to a certain extent