Overview

The aflatoxin reduction project is designed for the development of consistent and cost-effective approaches for aflatoxin contamination reduction in maize before milling. Because of their potent carcinogenic properties, certain mycotoxins pose a major health threat and prove to be costly to the grain producing and processing industry. The Federal Drug Administration issued stringent regulations for mycotoxin content for grains intended for export as well as domestic use for both humans and animals. Currently, maize kernels undergo a cleaning procedure to remove broken piece, small particles, foreign materials, etc., before milling. This work will add an additional step to break aflatoxin contaminated kernels so that they can be removed more effectively in the cleaning process. Therefore, greater aflatoxin reduction can be achieved through this approach.