Abstract:Mycotoxin contamination poses a severe threat to high-quality product development in the food, agriculture, and feed industries as well as serious risks to human life and health. Aflatoxin B1, which possesses strong carcinogenicity and teratogenicity, is one of most toxic and widespread mycotoxins. Natural montmorillonite can bind aflatoxin B1 through ion-dipole interactions, coordination of carbonyl oxygen and electrostatic attraction, thereby achieving the adsorptive removal of aflatoxin B1 to a certain extent. However, the removal effect of natural montmorillonite is unsatisfactory as minerals, vitamins, and other nutritional components in the matrix are affected during the adsorption process. The adsorption capacity and selectivity of natural montmorillonite for aflatoxin B1 can be considerably enhanced by different modification methods. In this paper, the hazards of aflatoxin B1, adsorption mechanisms of montmorillonite, and research progress in the modification of montmorillonite to enhance its performance in the adsorptive removal of aflatoxin B1 have been described.
