Mitigation of aflatoxin contamination in raw and roasted cashew nuts using gamma irradiation and storage conditions

Globally, Cashew nuts are high-value export oriented crops but their trade is often limited by aflatoxin contamination, which poses adverse effects on human health. The present study evaluated a combined approach to reduce aflatoxins levels through using gamma irradiation and different storage conditions effects. A three-factor factorial design (raw and roasted forms, seven irradiation doses of 0–10 kGy and two storage temperatures of 4 0 C and 25 0 C) was applied across nine market samples, resulting a total of 756 observations. Initially, aflatoxin levels ranged from 3.32 to 4.30 µg Kg -1 and for roasted 4.09 to 2.62 µg Kg -1 , detected through ELISA method, with several samples exceeding the EU safety limit of 4 µg Kg -1 . Gamma irradiation dose with 6 kGy identified as the most effective dose, achieving up to 8.68% reduction with complete inhibition of fungal growth. Storage at 4 0 C temperature was more effective than 25 0 C in maintaining lower toxin levels over a three month period. There were no observed significant changes in nuts weight. The current study received very limited attention particularly in Bangladesh context, offers a comparative assessed raw and roasted cashew nuts under combined treatments gamma irradiation and storage effects. These findings indicate that gamma irradiation combined with appropriate storage conditions can be an effective approach for improving the safety and quality of cashew nuts.