Detoxification of DON by photocatalytic degradation and quality evaluation of wheat

Abstract

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is regarded as the most common contaminant of cereal grains. Therefore, finding an efficient and safe detoxification technology is of great significance in the field of food. In this study, upconversion nanoparticles@TiO₂ composites were used for the photocatalytic degradation of DON in wheat. The effect of photocatalytic oxidation on wheat quality was also evaluated by studying the basic physical and chemical indexes of wheat. The results showed that the removal rate of DON in wheat could reach 72.8% within 90 min when the dosage of photocatalyst UCNP@TiO₂ was 8 mg mL⁻¹ and the ratio of wheat to liquid was 1 : 2. In addition, the composites can be easily removed by washing, thus ensuring the low exposure dose of the nanomaterials in wheat. Studies on the nutritional quality of wheat showed that photocatalytic technology had little effect on the starch, protein, amino acid content of wheat (p > 0.05). The whiteness of wheat flour decreased and the yellowness increased. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of wheat starch showed that the surfaces of starch granules were damaged to varying degrees with the prolongation of illumination time. Meanwhile, the fatty acid value and wet gluten content and pasting properties of wheat decreased significantly during photocatalysis (p < 0.05). This study demonstrates that photocatalytic degradation will have a promising prospect in toxin removal.