Reduction of aflatoxin B1 in peanut meal by extrusion cooking

• Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in peanut meal was efficiently degraded by extrusion cooking.
• Response surface methodology was used to optimize the extrusion conditions.
• The temperature and moisture influenced the degradation rate of AFB1.

This study explored the feasibility of degrading aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in contaminated peanut meal by extrusion cooking. Peanut meal contaminated with AFB1 (35.8 ± 1.5 μg/kg) was extrusion-cooked in a twin-screw extruder and AFB1 was quantified by ELISA. The effects of barrel temperature, material moisture content, feed rate, and screw speed as well as their interactions on the reduction rate of AFB1 in peanuts meal were evaluated by Response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize the extrusion conditions. Under the optimal conditions (barrel temperature of 150 °C, material moisture content of 40 g/100 g, feed rate of 17 g/min, and screw speed of 152 rpm), 77.6 ± 2.2% of AFB1 was degraded. The barrel temperature and material moisture have significant influences (P < 0.01) on the degradation rate of AFB1, while the feed rate or screw speed has no significant influence.