The behavior of aflatoxin M₁ during lactic cheese production and storage

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the fate of aflatoxin M₁ (AFM₁) during lactic cheese processing and storage. About 70.72% of the total AFM₁ content of the raw milk was carried over into the whey. The levels of AFM₁ during cheese storage were reduced by 77.66%. The transfer of the AFM₁ into the brine solution depended on the storage time and showed variable trends. Collectively, 6.42% of the total AFM₁ content of milk remained in lactic cheese, and 93.58% of it was removed during production and storage. Lactic cheese could be safer than milk from the AFM₁ level point of view.

Keywords:

• Aflatoxin
• milk
• cheese
• food contaminant
• lactic acid bacteria

Acknowledgments

Hamadan University of Medical science approved this work (Project number: 140003111879). The author would like to thank Farogh laboratory and Dr. Shojaei for their help in AFM₁ analysis. The authors acknowledged Dr. Amin Mousavi Khaneghah (University of Campinas) for improving the English of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.