article · Scientific Reports
Aflatoxins are hazardous mycotoxins that frequently contaminate paprika, posing serious food safety risks. This research examined whether combining a traditional Moroccan spice blend with heat treatment could lower aflatoxin levels in naturally contaminated sweet paprika. The formulation contained cumin, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, garlic, coriander, salt, and lemon juice. Samples were treated with the spices, subjected to thermal processing at 180 degrees Celsius for twenty minutes, or treated with both methods together. Heating alone decreased total aflatoxins by 50.92 percent, whereas the spice blend alone achieved a 43.87 percent reduction. Combining thermal processing with the spice blend delivered the highest reduction, decreasing total aflatoxins by 63.90 percent from 13.63 to 4.92 micrograms per kilogram. Analysis confirmed a statistically significant sub-additive interaction between heat and the spice formulation, demonstrating a viable natural mitigation approach.
Aflatoxins in agricultural spices present notable health concerns for consumers and create compliance challenges for food processors. Demonstrating that commonplace culinary ingredients like turmeric, cumin, and garlic can work alongside heat to cut toxic contamination provides an accessible, non-synthetic mitigation method. This approach could help improve food safety in spice production while using natural culinary ingredients.
This method offers an applied food processing intervention for spice processors, culinary manufacturers, and post-harvest handlers seeking natural decontamination methods. Because testing was conducted on contaminated sweet paprika using standard heat profiles and standard culinary ingredients, the approach appears applied and tested at laboratory scale. Further development would be required to determine how the recipe influences commercial flavour profiles and shelf life before scaling into industrial processing lines.
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Aflatoxins are potent mycotoxins frequently detected in paprika, posing significant food safety concerns. This study evaluated the effect of a Moroccan spice blend combined with thermal processing on aflatoxin reduction in naturally contaminated sweet paprika. The spice blend, composed of cumin, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, garlic, coriander, salt, and lemon juice, was applied to paprika samples subjected to different treatments, including heating at 180 °C for 20 min. Aflatoxins were extracted and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). Thermal processing alone reduced total aflatoxins (ΣAFs) from 13.63 to 6.69 µg/kg (50.92%), while the spice blend alone reduced levels to 7.65 µg/kg (43.87%). The combined treatment achieved the greatest reduction, lowering ΣAFs to 4.92 µg/kg (63.90%). Two-way ANOVA revealed a significant interaction between thermal processing and the spice blend (F(1, 8) = 468.84, p < 0.001), indicating a statistically significant interaction that was characterized as sub-additive relative to the theoretical additive model. Tukey’s HSD test confirmed significant differences between treatments ( p < 0.001). The observed reduction may result from both thermal processing and the action of bioactive compounds present in the spices. These findings support the potential of combining traditional spice blend with thermal processing as a natural strategy to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in paprika.
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DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-68142-0
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