Electron beam irradiation (EBI) has high energy, no induced radioactivity, and strong degradation capacity toward mycotoxins, such as zearalenone (ZEN) and ochratoxin A (OTA). In this study, we determined EBI’s influence on the physical and chemical properties of corn contaminated with ZEN and OTA. Moreover, the toxicity of corn after EBI was assessed through a mouse experiment. Amylose content and starch crystallinity in corn decreased significantly (p < 0.05) at an irradiation dose higher than 20 kGy. Scanning electron microscopy results revealed that the starch particles of corn began to be crushed at 10 kGy. Essential and total amino acid contents in corn decreased significantly with increasing irradiation dose of EBI (p < 0.05). Feeding EBI-treated corn fodders to mice could significantly improve blood biochemical indexes. The EBI-treated group was not significantly different from the normal corn group and did not display histopathological changes of the liver. EBI treatment can influence the quality of corn to some extent and effectively lower the toxicity of ZEN and OTA in contaminated corn. The results provide a theoretical and practical basis for the processing of EBI-treated corn and its safety.

Edible oils, especially peanut oil, usually contain aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) at extremely high concentrations. This study focused on the synthesis of rice husk-based mesoporous silica (MCM-41) for the removal of AFB₁ from peanut oil. MCM-41 was characterized by X-ray diffraction, N₂ physisorption, and transmission electron microscope. MCM-41 was shown to have ordered channels with high specific surface area (1246 m²/g), pore volume (1.75 cm³/g), and pore diameter (3.11 nm). Under the optimal concentration of 1.0 mg/mL of the adsorbent dose, the adsorption behavior of MCM-41, natural montmorillonite (MONT), and commercial activated carbon (CA) for AFB₁ were compared. The adsorption of AFB₁ in peanut oil onto the three adsorbents was slower compared to that of AFB₁ in an aqueous solution. In addition, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model better fit the adsorption kinetics of AFB_1, while the adsorption mechanism followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm on the three adsorbents. The calculated maximum adsorbed amounts of AFB₁ on MONT, MCM-41, and CA were 199.41, 215.93, and 248.93 ng/mg, respectively. These results suggested that MCM-41 without modification could meet market demand and could be considered a good candidate for the removal of AFB₁ from peanut oil. This study provides insights that could prove to be of economic and practical value.

Moisture content is an important factor that affects rice storage. Rice with high moisture (HM) content has superior taste but is difficult to store. In this study, low-dose electron beam irradiation (EBI) was used to study water distribution in newly harvested HM (15.03%) rice and dried rice (11.97%) via low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR). The gelatinization, texture and rheological properties of rice and the thermal and digestion properties of rice starch were determined. Results showed that low-dose EBI could change water distribution in rice mainly by affecting free water under low-moisture (LM) conditions and free water and bound water under HM conditions. HM rice showed smooth changes in gelatinization and rheological properties and softened textural properties. The swelling power and solubility index indicated that irradiation promoted the depolymerization of starch chains. Overall, low-dose EBI had little effect on the properties of rice. HM rice showed superior quality and taste, whereas LM rice exhibited superior nutritional quality. This work attempted to optimize the outcome of the EBI treatment of rice for storage purposes by analyzing its effects. It demonstrated that low-dose EBI was more effective and environmentally friendly than other techniques.

A rapid immunochromatographic assay was developed to detect 17β-19-Nortestosterone (19-NT). The 19-NT-OVA conjugate was immobilised to nitrocellulose membrane as a test line and goat anti-rabbit IgG as a control line. Anti-19-NT polyclonal antibody labelled with colloidal gold particles acted as detector reagent. We tested the sensitivity of the strip using spiked swine urine, and analysed the intensity of test line using ImageJ software. The sensitivity by naked eye measurement was determined to be 200 ng/ml and lower limit using ImageJ was distinguished as 5 ng/ml. The total assay time was less than 20 min, suitable for screening and quantifying the residue of 19-NT in swine urine.