Assessment of patulin adsorption efficacy from aqueous solution by water‐insoluble corn flour

This study investigated water-insoluble corn flour (WICF) as a novel biosorbent for removing patulin from aqueous solutions, including contaminated fruit juices. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to assess the effect of granularity of WICF, adsorbent dosage, contact time, temperature, pH, and initial patulin concentration. The results showed that the maximum removal percentage of 92.21% was achieved at 37 °C, pH value of 4.0 in 100 µg/L patulin concentration for 25 hr. The adsorption data could be well fitted with the Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-first order model. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that mycotoxin adsorption is an endothermic and spontaneous process. Subsequently, scanning electron microscopy images showed obvious morphological changes in WICF after adsorbing patulin. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectroscopic evidence demonstrated that the main functional groups involved in the adsorption were O-H, C = O and C-O groups. Practical applications Patulin was found as a contaminant in various fruit juices, which raised serious concerns about developing an effective and cheap adsorbent for detoxification of patulin toxin in fruit juice and their products. Water-insoluble corn flour was applied to strengthen the control of patulin for the first time. Results of this study indicated that water-insoluble corn flour has a strong ability to remove patulin from aqueous solutions and various fruit juices. Therefore, using water-insoluble corn flour as an adsorbent and combining the filtration process could be potentially applied in fruit juice industry for detoxification of patulin.