Individual and combined decontamination effect of aqueous ozone and plant extracts on fungi and aflatoxins in brown rice

This study aimed to investigate the effect of aqueous ozone (AO), alone or in combination with plant aqueous extracts (PAE) of Mentha arvensis, Chenopodium album, and Eucalyptus camaldulensis on fungal load and aflatoxins (AFs) at 100 or 200 ng/g in brown rice. Significant reductions in AFs levels (up to 100 %) and fungal counts (up to 0.60 log CFU/g) were observed in treated brown rice, with higher reductions achieved with AO combined with M. arvensis' extract at 10 % during 40 min exposure. Notably, this treatment improved the cooking quality and retained key physicochemical properties of brown rice, including fatty acid value, total phenolic contents, antioxidant activity, and color (L∗ value). AO in combination with PAE, particularly M. arvensis, is a sustainable approach for AFs removal in brown rice. Further studies are needed to optimize the AFs decontamination process and evaluate long-term effects of combined AO and PAE treatments on brown rice's quality.