Synergistic Inactivation of Aflatoxin B₁ by Combined Physical Fields: Efficacy and Mechanism

Aflatoxins (AFs) are a class of highly toxic mycotoxins characterized by a difuran ring structure. Among more than 20 known derivatives, including AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2, AFM1, and AFM2, Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is the most toxic and prevalent, posing a severe threat to human and animal health. However, the efficacy and mechanisms of physical degradation methods for AFB1 remain inadequately understood. In this study, five physical field technologies—catalytic infrared (CIR), radio frequency (RF), pulsed light (PL), low-temperature plasma (LTP), and ozone (O₃)—were selected to investigate AFB₁ degradation, with an incubation treatment also included. Subsequently, CIR and RF were individually combined with PL, LTP and O₃ to treat pure AFB₁. The results demonstrated that both PL and LTP treatments achieved significant degradation after 5 minutes, with degradation rates of 84.5% and 89.2%, respectively. The inclusion of an incubation treatment did not significantly alter these outcomes. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis revealed that PL, LTP, and O₃ degraded AFB 1 by disrupting key structural components, such as the furan ring, coumarin, and cyclopentenone moieties, thereby generating various less toxic derivatives. Among the combined treatments, the combination of O₃ with LTP demonstrated the highest performance, reducing the residual rate of AFB₁ to 18.36%. This represents a 61.6% enhancement in degradation compared to LTP treatment alone. Mechanistically, O₃ pre-oxidation disrupts the molecular stability of AFB₁, while subsequent LTP treatment further cleaves its specific toxic moieties. This multi-mechanism synergy enables effective detoxification and offers a green and efficient strategy for enhancing food safety.