Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the combination of citric acid (CA) and pulsed light (PL) treatments on B-aflatoxins inactivation and the treatment’s effects on the physicochemical properties of peanuts. AFT (B1 and B2) levels in peanuts after PL + CA treatment by ELISA and LC–MS–MS were measured and compared to untreated peanuts. The physiochemical properties of the treated samples were evaluated. Results indicate that the total number of AFTs were reduced by 98.2% (±1.03) from the combined treatment (citric acid + PL). Moreover, LC–MS/MS results confirmed that the combined treatment (citric acid + PL) reduced AFT B1 and B2 up to 98.9% (±0.8) and 98.1% (±1.1), respectively. Differences were not significant (p > 0.05) between the evaluated chemical quality indices for all experiments, while significant (p < 0.05) changes were recorded in color parameters. Further parameter optimization is required to achieve a commercially desired product.