Investigating the effect of dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma on the aflatoxin removal and the physicochemical properties of sesame seeds

Cold plasma is a non-thermal technology that has been proposed as an efficient method for the mycotoxins destruction in the food industry. The first stage of this study was conducted to determine the effect of the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment gas (air, argon, wet argon) on the aflatoxin B₁ reduction and sesame seed peroxide value (PV). The results showed that air gas was more effective in the reduction of aflatoxin B₁ from 65 to 47 ppb (27.7% decrease), while the peroxide content increased from 0.61 ± 0.09 to 1.61 ± 0.011. The effects of power (45 and 56 W) and exposure time (1, 4, and 8 min) of plasma with argon gas on aflatoxin B₁ content and physicochemical characteristics of sesame seeds were studied in the second stage. The greatest reduction in aflatoxin B₁ content was achieved at DBD treatment of 8 min and 56 W from 63.4 to 19.9 ppb (68.59% decrease). This sample was further investigated for physicochemical analysis in which PV, acid value, colour parameters (a* and b*), and texture parameters (hardness, fracturability, cohesiveness, gumminess) in the treated sample has been increased, whereas the pH, colour parameter (L*), texture parameter (springiness index), phytosterol, sesamol, sesamin and sesamolin levels has been decreased compared with the control samples. Also, there was no significant difference in protein content. The results indicate the effectiveness of DBD plasma treatment on AFB₁ reduction, along with physicochemical changes that need to be optimized.