The effect of buckwheat groats processing on the content of mycotoxins and phenolic compounds

ABSTRACTTwo buckwheat groats processing methods were used for production of final commercial product. The first one involved thermal processing (steamed) and then dehulling, and the second one dehulling without thermal treatment (raw). The research evidenced that the raw groats and hulls were several times more contaminated with aflatoxin B1 compared with steamed ones. High concentrations of aflatoxin B1 (75.8 µg kg−1) and T-2 toxin (351.0 µg kg−1) were detected in the raw hull samples. The total phenolics responded more sensitively to thermal treatment than phenolic acids. More than 20 times higher concentrations of quercetin (65.47 ± 6.3 µg g–1) were determined in steamed hulls compared to other raw and steamed samples. Buckwheat groats and hulls, containing the highest concentrations of quercetin and hydroxybenzoic acids, were found to be 10-fold less contaminated with aflatoxin B1 and T-2 toxins; however, the correlations between the phenolics and mycotoxins were statistically insignificant.