Optimized cleansing techniques: Engineered covalent-organic frameworks (COF) adsorbents for mycotoxin removal from food products

Abstract

Background

Mycotoxins, toxic metabolites produced by certain fungi, pose a significant threat to human health through contaminated food and animal feed. These toxins, which include aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxins, and fumonisins, are prevalent in agricultural products such as grains, nuts, and dried fruits. The growing global concern regarding the health risks associated with mycotoxins has driven research into developing efficient methods for their removal from food products. Among various approaches, materials science has emerged as a promising one, offering advanced adsorbents capable of mitigating mycotoxin contamination and improving food safety.

Scope and objective

This review focuses on the recent advancements in covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for the removal of mycotoxins, with particular attention to their modifications for performance enhancement. It discusses key strategies for optimizing COFs, including the introduction of functional groups and modification of pore structures, to improve adsorption capacity, adsorption isotherms, and kinetics. This study explores how these modifications progressively enhance COF efficiency, particularly for AF removal, and their potential use in complex food matrices. This review aims to provide a clear understanding of how COF modifications contribute to more efficient and selective mycotoxin removal.

Key findings

Recent studies have highlighted the effectiveness of various COFs, such as PL-GOx-Fe₃O₄@COF, PAN@COF FM, COF@MIP, F-COF, JNU-7, CX4-Tph-COF, magnetic COF, and Fe₃O₄-incorporated COFs, in removing mycotoxins. These COFs operate through various physical and chemical interactions, achieving high adsorption efficiencies. The application of COFs has proven particularly effective in food samples such as grains, beverages, edible oils, and meats. The incorporation of guest nanomaterials and molecules further enhances the adsorption capabilities of COFs, enabling improved performance in complex matrices. These findings underscore the potential of COFs as effective adsorbents of mycotoxins, providing a promising alternative to traditional methods.

Significance

This review explores the challenges in optimizing COF materials for mycotoxin removal and proposes strategies to overcome these hurdles. By focusing on surface engineering, pore structure optimization, and functional group modifications, it emphasizes the need for further research to improve COF efficiency. The insights presented here are intended to encourage continued innovation in COF-based technologies, ultimately contributing to improved food safety and public health protection.