Aflatoxins in contaminated corn do not degrade in corn fermentation solution (CFS) during biofuel production; rather, they are enriched in the co-product, dried distillers grain. Aflatoxin B₁ (AfB₁) is the most toxic form of all aflatoxins. Removing AfB₁ from CFS is desirable to minimize its toxicity to animals. Smectites can adsorb AfB₁ from aqueous solutions and, therefore, inactivate the toxin, but proteins in CFS inhibit the adsorption of AfB₁ by smectites. The current study aimed to minimize the interference by CFS in adsorption of AfB₁ on smectite by modifying a calcium-smectite (Ca-3MS) with a small nutritive organic compound, e.g. carnitine, choline, arginine, histidine, or tryptophan. The organo-smectites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and adsorption of AfB₁ in CFS by these composites was examined. Various degrees of intercalation of the organic nutrients into the smectites were observed with XRD and FTIR. After immersing the smectite and organo-smectites in the CFS, the d₀₀₁ values of Ca-3MS expanded to ~1.82 nm due to protein interaction, but the organo-smectites were confined to ~1.39 nm, which indicated that the protein had limited access to the organo-smectite interlayers. The IR bands at ~1652, 1544, 1538, and 1454 cm^–1 from the organo-smectites revealed, however, that complete protein inhibition was not achieved. The organo-smectites were capable of adsorbing AfB₁ in simple aqueous solution with maximal adsorption capacity up to 0.55 mol kg^–1. Significantly greater (p ≤ 0.05) AfB₁ adsorption was achieved by choline- and carnitine-modified smectites compared with the original Ca-3MS in the presence of competing protein (pepsin) in simple aqueous solution. In real CFS, both AfB₁ adsorption capacities (Q_max) and affinities (K) by all organo-smectites were greater (Q_max = up to 0.45 mol kg^–1 and K = up to 0.165 μM^–1) than those by Ca-3MS (Q_max = 0.22 mol kg^–1 and K = 0.031 μM^–1). The study suggested that using smectites modified with an organic nutritive compound could be an effective, economical, and safe strategy for removing mycotoxins, including aflatoxins, during biofuel production.

在生物燃料生产过程中，受污染玉米中的黄曲霉毒素不会在玉米发酵液 (CFS) 中降解；相反，它们富含副产品干酒糟。黄曲霉毒素 B ₁ (AfB ₁ ) 是所有黄曲霉毒素中毒性最强的形式。从 CFS 中去除 AfB ₁是可取的，以尽量减少其对动物的毒性。绿土可以从水溶液中吸附 AfB _{1 ，因此使毒素失活，但 CFS 中的蛋白质抑制绿土对 AfB 1}的吸附。目前的研究旨在尽量减少 CFS 对 AfB _{1吸附的干扰}通过用少量营养有机化合物（例如肉碱、胆碱、精氨酸、组氨酸或色氨酸）修饰钙蒙脱石 (Ca-3MS) 对绿土进行改性。通过 X 射线衍射 (XRD) 和傅里叶变换红外 (FTIR) 光谱对有机蒙脱石进行了表征，并检查了这些复合材料对 CFS中 AfB _{1的吸附。}用 XRD 和 FTIR 观察到有机养分不同程度地嵌入绿土中。将蒙脱石和有机蒙脱石浸入 CFS 后，由于蛋白质相互作用，Ca-3MS 的d ₀₀₁值扩大到 ~1.82 nm，但有机蒙脱石限制在 ~1.39 nm，这表明蛋白质的访问受限到有机蒙脱石中间层。~1652、1544、1538 和 1454 cm 处的红外波段^{然而，来自有机蒙脱石的–1}表明，没有实现完全的蛋白质抑制。有机蒙脱石能够在简单的水溶液中吸附AfB _{1 ，最大吸附量可达0.55 mol kg} ^–1。与原始 Ca-3MS 相比，在简单水溶液中存在竞争蛋白（胃蛋白酶）的情况下，通过胆碱和肉碱修饰的蒙脱石实现了显着更大 ( p ≤ 0.05) 的 AfB _1吸附。在实际 CFS 中，所有有机蒙脱石的 AfB ₁吸附容量 ( Q _max ) 和亲和力 ( K ) 都更大 ( Q _max = 高达 0.45 mol kg ^–1和K = 高达 0.165 μM ^–1 ) 高于 Ca-3MS ( Q _max = 0.22 mol kg ^–1和K = 0.031 μM ^–1 )。该研究表明，在生物燃料生产过程中，使用经有机营养化合物改性的绿土可能是一种有效、经济且安全的去除霉菌毒素（包括黄曲霉毒素）的策略。