Keeping Maize Safe: A New Way to Catch Tiny Toxins

Aflatoxins are sneaky toxins that can hide in maize. They are bad for health, so finding them is important. Scientists have made a new tool to catch these tiny troublemakers. This tool is called a hierarchical porous covalent organic framework (HPCOF). It is like a tiny sponge with lots of holes. These holes are just the right size to trap aflatoxins. The HPCOF is made using a special method called solvothermal. This gives it a range of pore sizes from 1. 7 to 33. 2 nanometers. This range is perfect for catching different types of aflatoxins. The tool can hold a lot of aflatoxins. It can catch between 124 to 184 micrograms for every gram of the tool. Scientists used this tool to find aflatoxins in maize. They combined it with a method called high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). This method can find very small amounts of aflatoxins. The smallest amount it can find is between 0. 033 to 0. 16 nanograms per gram. This is like finding a tiny grain of sand in a big beach. The new method is good at finding aflatoxins. It can find them in amounts from 0. 1 to 50 nanograms per gram. The method is also reliable. It can find aflatoxins with an accuracy of 81. 5 to 111. 6 percent. This means it is a good tool for keeping maize safe. Aflatoxins are a big problem in many crops, not just maize. They can cause health issues in both humans and animals. Finding a way to catch them is important for food safety. The new HPCOF tool is a step in the right direction. It shows that science can help us keep our food safe.