Highly efficient detoxification of aflatoxin B1 in peanut meals by attapulgite-supported laccase

Aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) in peanut meal poses a significant risk to human and animal health, as well as to food safety and the feed industry. However, none of the detoxification technologies demonstrate significant potential for industrial applications in terms of efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and safety for detoxifying AFB 1 in peanut meals. To address this challenge, this study proposes a novel detoxifier by integrating attapulgite (ATP), a low-cost AFB 1 adsorbent, with laccase, an effective enzyme for AFB 1 degradation. By optimization of the synthesis conditions, including the initial laccase activity and volume, reaction temperature and time, as well as the pH of the buffer system, the modified ATP-supported laccase (MATP-La) with the highest loading capacity and enzymatic activity has been successfully developed. Stability experiments revealed that the immobilized laccase considerably improved the enzymatic stability compared to free laccase. The detoxification performance of MATP-La was evaluated across a broad range of AFB 1 concentrations. Results showed that the synergistic effect between MATP adsorption and laccase-facilitated degradation enabled MATP-La to achieve excellent detoxification efficiency. Specifically, adding only 0.1% of MATP-La to contaminated peanut meal resulted in over 90% AFB 1 detoxification within 24 h. Additionally, cytotoxicity experiments demonstrated the safety of MATP-La. In summary, this study not only offers a novel and practical approach for detoxifying AFB 1 from feeds but also effectively enhances the application potential of these materials.