engleski

Application of Low Pressure DBD Plasma treatment in T-2 and HT-2 toxin reduction

Trichothecene mycotoxins are found worldwide in cereals and cereal-based products, which creates an ongoing global food security concern. Type A trichothecenes T-2 and HT-2 toxins are potent cytotoxic and immunosuppressive agents, which cause variety of adverse health effects in both humans and animals. The influence of food processing methods on these toxins is still poorly understood. In the recent years, application of cold plasma technology in food industry and agriculture is rapidly growing. This non-thermal food processing method has a high potential in solving various problems connected to microbial decontamination, and has recently been used for degradation of mycotoxins. This study investigated the influence of low pressure plasma discharge system with different work gases (oxygen, nitrogen, air, argon) on T-2 and HT-2 toxin levels in oat flour reference material within various timeframes. The plasma treatment was performed in a 0.5 L reactor, using a power source with nominal power of 6 W (2.5 kV, 25 kHz). Samples were analyzed for T-2 and HT-2 toxin concentrations before and after the treatment using the confirmatory liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. The obtained results show higher degradation of T-2 after plasma treatment than of HT-2 toxin. Maximal degradation of T-2 and HT-2 toxin was achieved using nitrogen gas (38.60% and 33.53%, respectively), whereas application of argon does not significantly (p > 0.05) reduce these mycotoxins. Although the nominal plasma power in this study was insufficient to completely degrade T-2/HT-2 toxins, results indicate that cold plasma has a potential to be used as an effective physical method in reduction of mycotoxins.

T-2 toxin ; HT-2 toxin reduction ; Low pressure DBD plasma ; Reduction

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