Instant catapult steam explosion combined with ammonia water: A complex technology for detoxification of aflatoxin-contaminated peanut cake with the aim of producing a toxicity-free and nutrients retention of animal feed.

Aflatoxin is one of the most toxic biotoxins found in contaminated agricultural products. It has strong mutagenicity, carcinogenesis and teratogenicity to humans and animals. In this study, instant catapult steam explosion combined with ammonia water was examined for its potential to degrade aflatoxin B in peanut cake in order to improve its utilization as a toxic-free animal feed. Incubation of AFB-containing peanut cake followed by processing with Instant Catapult Steam Explosion (ICSE) led to approximately 79.03 % degradation of AFB, while the degradation of AFB was up to 91.48 % under the treatment of ICSE combined with 4 % NH₃·H₂O at 1.2 MPa in 200 s of process time. After treatment, nutrients in peanut cake were not significantly changed. The toxicity of AFB degradation products was evaluated and the results showed that the toxicity of these products were found to be substantially less than that possessed by AFB. A low chemical pollution, efficient and toxic-free technology system of AFB degradation was established, which detoxify aflatoxin-contaminated biomass for sustainable and safe utilization of agricultural biomass as animal feed.