Ozone Gas Antifungal Effect on Extruded Dog Food Contaminated with Aspergillus flavus

ABSTRACTDecontamination of Aspergillus flavus spores in inoculated extruded food (Standard and Super-Premium types), through ozone (O3) gas, was investigated at different concentrations (40 and 60 µmol/mol) and times (30, 60, and 120 min) of exposure. The gas antifungal efficiency, humidity, and lipid stability were evaluated before and after treatments. O3 reduced A. flavus spores of the extruded food, on both types (p < 0.05). The highest reduction (98.3%) was observed for both food types, when gas was applied for 120 min, regardless of the O3 concentration. Regarding humidity and peroxide index, there was no difference, either prior to or after the gas application for all treatments conditions. O3 gas can be an efficient method for fungi spores’ contamination control during commercialization of extruded food in open bags exposed to the environment.