Background: Peanuts are one of the commonly consumed snacks but with poor storage practices and handling can make them prone to food borne infections.
Objective: The study aimed to measure the level of aflatoxin B1 in peanuts, which are contaminated with Aspergillus flavus before and after decontamination by yeast to detect the effect of biological decontamination of aflatoxin B1 in peanuts by yeast in selected locations in Qalubia Governorate in Egypt.
Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out on 30 peanut samples from 3 different cities (Benha, Kaha, Qalub) in Qalubia Governorate in the period between June 2021 and January 2022. Samples were collected randomly from ten different traders in each city. The samples were aseptically blended by Electronic Mixer Grinder (China) and 50 g portions were kept in paper envelopes. Samples were kept at −80°C till time of analysis.
Results: There was significant strong positive correlation between fungal count and aflatoxin concentration with the samples from “Qalub” had the highest fungal count (30 ×10³ cfu/g) while “Benha” had the lowest count of (5 ×10³ cfu/g). Also we found that the aflatoxin concentration of the peanuts ranged from (20.5 ngg−1) to (33.4 ngg−1) with “Benha” and “Kaha” having the least concentrations, while “Qalub” has the highest concentration. The aflatoxin B1 concentration is decreased after microbiological decontamination with prolonged contact with backer's yeast.
Conclusion: This study showed that the peanuts were contaminated with toxigenic fungi, resulting in aflatoxin contamination of the products, thereby posing health risks to their consumers; and we observed that yeasts have a huge potential application in aflatoxin degradation in foodstuffs.