Abstract:
Aflatoxins are potent carcinogenic and immunosuppre
ssive agents. Acute exposure to
high level of aflatoxins leads to aflatoxicosis, wh
ich cause rapid death due to liver failure.
Immune modulating effects of probiotic bacteria hav
e good prospects to detoxification of
natural foods. This study was aimed to investigate
the ability of
Lactobacillus acidophilus
strain
LA-5 in the presence and absence of yoghurt starter
culture for removing Aflatoxin
M
1
(AFM
1
) in comparison with yoghurt starter cultures (10
8
CFU ml
-1
). AFM
1
detoxification was evaluated for 21 days of yoghurt
storage at 4°C at different
concentrations of Aflatoxin (0.1, 0.5 and 0.75 μg L
-1
). The amounts of unbound AFM
1
were determined using competitive Enzyme-Linked Imm
unosorbent Assay (ELISA).
L.
acidophilus
combined with yoghurt starter culture and alone co
uld significantly (P
≤
0.05)
remove AFM
1
compared to control group. The results indicated t
hat increasing initial
AFM
1
concentration in the yoghurt samples and storage t
ime affected the capacity of
AFM
1
binding.
Keywords
: Aflatoxin M
1
, Biological detoxification, Enzyme-linked immunoso
rbent assay,
Lactic acid bacteria, Yoghurt.
