Research status and prospect of the detection, prevention and control techniques for aflatoxins in agricultural products and food

Aflatoxins are the secondary metabolites that are predominantly produced by fungi, such as Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus under natural conditions. As the most toxic and carcinogenic mycotoxins up to now, the aflatoxins can contaminate over 110 types of agricultural foods and foods, such as peanuts, corn, rice, and nuts. The aflatoxins have posed significant threats to global grain security, food safety, and human health. This review aims to outline the research status and prospect of aflatoxins detection, prevention, and control in agricultural products and food. Firstly, a concise overview was performed on the classification and toxicity of aflatoxins. Then a systematic summary was presented of the recent advances in the detection and control technologies of aflatoxin contamination. Finally, the potential applications of aflatoxin contamination were proposed for the smart monitoring and prevention or mitigation strategies from the source. Conventional technologies with large instruments and equipment were widely used in aflatoxins detection, including high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), due to their high accuracy and reliability in the laboratory. Meanwhile, the emerging techniques of aflatoxin detection offered high sensitivity, simplicity, and portability, such as immunochromatographic test strips, immuno-fluorescence techniques, and nanomaterial-enhanced biosensors. The main tools were then served for many kinds of fields, such as harvest, transport, and process. Particularly, they were also valuable for the large-scale screening and real-time monitoring in the on-site test, due to the cost and time saving. In the aflatoxin contamination prevention and control, integrated approaches were often required for the planting, harvest, storage, and transportation. At the pre-harvest stage, the breeding strategy was applied for the disease resistance in the crop varieties for the functional microbial inoculants. The agronomic practices were then optimized to inhibit Aspergillus flavus colonization and aflatoxins production. Post-harvest interventions were also proposed to prevent and control aflatoxin contamination, such as the physical (e.g., proper drying and storage, γ-ray irradiation, high pressure, and adsorption removal), the chemical (e.g., ozone treatment, strong oxidant, alkali treatment), and the biologicals (e.g., microbial adsorption, microbial detoxification and enzymic degradation). Among them, the biological approaches gained much more attention, especially for the functional microbial inoculants control from source, due to the high efficiency, environmental compatibility, and sustainability to decrease the toxic fungi from source, such as Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Research development direction and trend were also fully considered over the various techniques. The future research interests were also focused on integrating intelligent detection and early warning technologies with source prevention and control strategies. Smart monitoring and early warning technologies (e.g., highly sensitive sensors with the internet of things, artificial intelligence-driven early warning of aflatoxins contamination) and source control technology (e.g., the bio-coupling technology between aflatoxins prevention and inducing peanut and soybean nitrogen fixation for quality improvement and yield increase) can be expected to achieve a more precise, efficient, and sustainable aflatoxins control, prevention, and management. Interdisciplinary collaboration in microbiology, soil environment science, chemistry, and food can be essential to drive innovation in aflatoxins detection and prevention. These advancements can also provide key technical support for agricultural products and food safety in sustainable agricultural industries.