Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of fungal species usually produced in tough environmental conditions. The interruption of fatty acid formation results in aflatoxins production. It is equally important in food and feed due to its health complication for animals and human beings. Biodegradation through environment friendly microbes is an acceptable strategy for the control of mycotoxins. A study has been designed to evaluate the environment friendly bacterial species for the biodegradation of aflatoxins. Specific double strength broth media (BHI, TSB, MRS and SDB) were mixed with standard Aflatoxins B1 to obtained 30 ppb final concertation. Different microbial species (Rhodococcus erythropolis, Bacillus licheniformis, Lactobacillus Pentosus, Lactobacillus casei, Aspergillus niger and Saccharomyces crevice) were added to the mixture containing aflatoxins and incubated for 48-72 h. The concentration of the aflatoxins in the mixture was confirmed with Agra strip, Agra quant and HPLC at initial and final time of incubation.
Results showed that Rhodococcus erythropolis and Bacillus licheniformis can degrade or alter the structure of aflatoxins to the undetectable level of the Agra strip (cutoff value less than 4 ppb) and Agra quant (cutoff value less than 2 ppb), these results were double confirmed with the of HPLC, which showed the reduction of aflatoxins to 0.57 and 0.95 ppb by Rhodococcus erythropolis and Bacillus licheniformis respectively. These results conforming the biodegradation of aflatoxins B1 used in the study. The organisms used in the study are environment friendly and can have the potential to decrease aflatoxins to the acceptable consumption level. Uses of these microbes for biodegradation will have positive impacts over the biocontrol strategies for mycotoxin.