Postharvest Management by Drying Method and Storage Period for Controlling the Contamination of Aspergillus flavus and Aflatoxin B1 in Peanuts

Abstract

Peanuts are often found as contaminants Aspergillus fungi and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), which cause liver cancer. Thus, this study aimed to determine the appropriate method for drying peanut to minimize the contamination of A. flavus and AFB1 in peanut. Three treatments were tested viz. 1) Pods (immediately striped from the peg) were sorted for quality before being dried on clean pallet for 7 days, 2) Bundles of peanut stem was turned up (pods on top) and dried at field for 1 day. Then, pods were removed from the peg and dried on cement ground for 6 days, and 3) Pods were dried on cement ground for 7 days. The moisture contents were below 9%, whilst contamination of A. flavus and AFB1 from all three methods were not significantly different. AFB1 were less than maximum level of aflatoxin (20 µg/kg). After that, dry peanuts were stored at ambient temperature for 6 months and determined for the contents of AFB1, protein and fat 2 months interval. There was no significantly different in amount of AFB1 as well as protein and fat between peanut from three drying methods. All testing treatments found that the AFB1 contamination did not exceed the requirements for peanut kernels. In addition, after storage for 6 months the peanuts from drying method no.2 were detected AFB1 with the least level 3.2 µg/kg, followed by method no.1 and no.3 with the levels 4.8 and 5.3 µg/kg, respectively. Moreover, the protein were found at the levels of 25.4% and fat contents 41.5%, which were decreased.