Effect of high hydrostatic pressure (HPP) and pulsed electric field (PEF) technologies on reduction of aflatoxins in fruit juices

The high demand of fresh-like products to meet the fruits and vegetables serving encouraged the implementation of non-thermal food processing techniques, such as high pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric fields (PEF), with low impact on nutritional components. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the application of HPP and PEF techniques as useful decontamination tool for aflatoxins (AFs) reduction in grape juice. Spiked grape juice samples with AFs treated by PEF or HPP were extracted using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) and determined by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS-IT). Reduction percentages of 14-29% have been obtained with both HPP and PEF treatments even higher reductions were obtained for AFB2 and AFG1 under PEF treatment, reaching reduction of 72 and 84% respectively. Results obtained in grape juice samples differed slightly from those obtained in water controls highlighting the matrix effect. Both HPP and PEF techniques showed measurable impact on AFs levels. Furthermore, an AFB2 degradation product obtained after PEF has been identified by quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry detector (qTOF-MS) and its toxicological endpoints predicted by Pro Tox-II web server.