Reduction of Fumonisin Toxicity by Extrusion and Nixtamalization (Alkaline Cooking).
Fumonisins are mycotoxins found in corn. They are toxic to animals and cause cancer in rodents and neural tube defects in LM/Bc mice. Reducing their concentrations in corn-based foods is therefore desirable. Chemical analysis or in vitro bioassays of food extracts might not detect toxic fumonisin reaction products that are unknown or unextractable from food matrices, thus potentially underestimating in vivo toxicity. The effectiveness of two common cooking methods, extrusion and nixtamalization (alkaline cooking), to reduce the toxicity of fumonisin-contaminated corn grits (extrusion) and whole kernel corn (nixtamalization) was shown by means of rat feeding bioassays using fumonisin-specific kidney effects as indicators of potential toxicity. A third bioassay showed that in contrast to fumonisin B1(FB1), hydrolyzed fumonisin B1(HFB1; formed from FB1during nixtamalization) did not cause neural tube defects in LM/Bc mice. The findings indicate that extrusion and nixtamalization reduce the potential toxicity of FB1-contaminated corn.
Toxicology and Mycotoxin Research Unit, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture , 950 College Station Road, Athens, Georgia 30605, United States.
Kenneth
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9965-7648
K
Voss
School of Food Science, University of Idaho , 875 Perimeter Drive, MS 2312, Moscow, Idaho 83844, United States.
Dojin
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3424-1163
D
Ryu
Division of Food Processing Science and Technology, Center for Food Safety and Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration , 6502 South Archer Road, Bedford Park, Illinois 60501, United States.
Lauren
L
Jackson
Toxicology and Mycotoxin Research Unit, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture , 950 College Station Road, Athens, Georgia 30605, United States.
Ronald
R
Riley
Department of Pharmacology, Creighton University School of Medicine , 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska 68178, United States.
Janee
J
Gelineau-van Waes
D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D003296:Cooking; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D037341:Fumonisins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology
D037341:Fumonisins; C056933:fumonisin B1
corn (maize); extrusion cooking; fumonisins; nixtamalization; toxicity