Ozonation of whole wheat flour and wet milling effluent: Degradation of deoxynivalenol (DON) and rheological properties

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to evaluate the reduction on the levels of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in whole wheat flour (WWF) with different moisture levels, on the wet milling effluent through ozone (O₃) processing, as well as the impact of ozonation on the rheological properties of flour. The results have shown that the reduction of DON was improved with increasing moisture and exposure time of WWF and wet milling effluent to ozone. The maximum reduction was about 80%, proving that ozonation is an effective and promising technology in reducing mycotoxins in different products. However, the process altered the rheological profile of WWF. Therefore, further studies are needed to better understand the process.

KEYWORDS:

• Mycotoxins
• ozone
• grains
• effluent

Funding

The authors thank the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Brazil) for funding the project n° 2016/10732-7, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, Brazil) for funding the project n° 401004/2014-7, and Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES, Brazil) for the APS Alexandre Ph.D. and N Castanha M.Sc. scholarships.