Decontamination of ochratoxin A from raisins by different processes: evaluation of efficiency and quality attributes

Abstract In this research, the effects of washing treatments (potassium carbonate (PC), potassium hydroxide (PH), peracetic acid (PA), alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP)), ultrasound (US) and high-intensity pulsed light (HIPL) technologies on the removal of ochratoxin A (OTA) residues in raisins were investigated. PC at 5 min (66.60%), PH at 10 min (65.25%), alkaline hydrogen peroxide at 5 min (63.30%) and HIPL at 12 J cm−2 (62.50%) were found to be the most successful applications in OTA degradation, respectively. Although the OTA degradation rate was high after chemical washing for 10 min, the raisins had a chemical odour. The results show that HIPL effectively reduces OTA levels in raisins without causing any quality loss.