Factors Affecting Aflatoxin B1 Removal by Flavobacterium aurantiacum.

This study was conducted to investigate several factors affecting the removal of aflatoxin B1 by Flavobacterium aurantiacum NRRL B-184. A simple spectrophotometric procedure was evaluated and compared to an established high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method and found to be useful for determining aflatoxin concentration in test solutions of phosphate buffer. Using the spectrophotometric method, 72-h cultures of F. aurantiacum were observed to remove more toxin from solution than 24-h cultures. Likewise, populations of 1010cells removed aflatoxin at a faster rate than did 109 cells, although the total amount removed did not differ. Transferring F. aurantiacum cultures in tryptic soy broth every 3 days for over 3 days for over 8 months had no apparent effect on their ability to remove measurable amounts of aflatoxin B1 from solution. Populations of 1 × 109 CFU/ml or less heat-inactivated F. aurantiacum were unable to remove aflatoxin B1 from phosphate buffer.