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Incidence of Aflatoxins in Oil Seeds and Possible Transfer to Oil: A Review

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Abstract

Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi of the genus Aspergillus, predominantly by A. flavus, A. parasiticus and A. nomius, which occur naturally in foodstuffs, leading to a wide variety of toxic effects in vertebrates, including humans. Contamination of food products with aflatoxigenic fungi may occur during production, harvesting, processing, transportation and storage. Human exposure to mycotoxins occurs primarily through the ingestion of contaminated food, including corn, peanuts, cotton seeds, as well as other oily seeds, such as sunflower and coconut. The procedures used for the extraction and refining of edible vegetable oils can be effective in reducing aflatoxins, varying with the type of oil and method of oil refining. However, numerous studies have reported high incidence of aflatoxins contamination in edible oils worldwide. The production of oils from oilseeds requires the following steps: storage of grains, preparation, extraction of crude oil and refine (degumming, deacidification, bleaching, deodorization, among others). Some of these steps may be harsh and lead to inactivation or elimination of important compounds, such as vitamins, antioxidants and enzymes, although the effect on undesirable compounds like aflatoxins varies markedly among methods. This review presents the current data on the contamination of aflatoxigenic fungi and incidence of aflatoxins in raw oilseed as well as derived products, the main technological approaches for the oil production, and discusses the potential transfer of aflatoxins from oilseeds into the final oil product through the process.

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  1. Departamento de Engenharia de Alimentos, Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Duque de Caxias, Norte, 225, Pirassununga, SP, CEP 13635-900, Brazil

    Keliani Bordin, Mirian Megumi Sawada, Christianne Elisabete da Costa Rodrigues & Carlos Augusto Fernandes Oliveira

  2. Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, MG, Brazil

    Carolina Rodrigues da Fonseca

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  1. Keliani Bordin
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  2. Mirian Megumi Sawada
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  3. Christianne Elisabete da Costa Rodrigues
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  4. Carolina Rodrigues da Fonseca
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  5. Carlos Augusto Fernandes Oliveira
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Correspondence to Carlos Augusto Fernandes Oliveira.

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Bordin, K., Sawada, M.M., Rodrigues, C.E.d. et al. Incidence of Aflatoxins in Oil Seeds and Possible Transfer to Oil: A Review. Food Eng Rev 6, 20–28 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-014-9076-9

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