The in vitro ability of different Saccharomyces cerevisiae – Based products to bind aflatoxin B1

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) – based products from sugar cane fermentation (dried yeast – DY, autolyzed yeast – AY, cell wall – CW) and from beer fermentation (brewery dehydrated residue – BDR) to bind aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) spiked with 0.5 μg AFB1 mL−1. All SC cells were heat-killed (121 ° C, 10 min) and then used for checking the effect of contact time (5, 10, 20 and 30 min) on toxin binding capacity. Compared to the CW and BDR treatments, DY and AY had higher (p < 0.05) capability to bind AFB1 in PBS, although there were no differences (p > 0.05) among the contact times for any product evaluated. The mean percentages of AFB1 bound by the DY were higher than AY, varying from 96.5% to 99.3% and from 90.4% to 97.5%, respectively, although the differences were not significant (p > 0.05). The SC-based products from sugar cane fermentation have a potential application for reducing levels of AFB1 in contaminated food products. However, additional studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms involved in the removal process of toxin by SC and factors that affect toxin sequestration aiming the commercial application in food industry.