Evaluation of the discontaminant effect of mycotoxins of the artisanal beer production stages

The contamination of food with mycotoxins represents a high risk to human and animal health, so it is essential to search for different strategies to reduce these toxins. In recent years it has been described that a certain degree of mycotoxin reduction can be achieved as a side effect of various types of food processing. Among these processes, beer production is highlighted, especially industrial processing. However, there is no information on the potential of the particular stages of artisanal beer processing to reduce the concentration of mycotoxins from barley malt. To this end, the objective of this project is to evaluate the decontaminating effect of the most prevalent mycotoxins in barley (deoxinivalenol, ocratoxin A, Zearralenone and fumonisin B1) throughout the production of craft beer. Artisanal beer will be prepared at the laboratory scale and reproducibility will be checked. In a next phase, samples of the drink will be taken at each stage of the process to quantify its effect on the concentration of the mycotoxins present. The quantification of mycotoxins will be performed by high resolution high resolution liquid chromatography with fluorescence and UV-VIS detection, after submitting samples to solid phase extractions. The results obtained will be socialized with government control entities and with beer microentrepreneurs about the importance of establishing control points during the beer production process. This project will last 15 months.

XVIII UNIVERSITY COMPETITION FOR RESEARCH PROJECTS