This study was performed to investigate the possible effect of sunlight on the reduction or degradation of mycelia and aflatoxins. The mycelia and aflatoxins were produced by Aspergillus parasiticus ATCC 15517 in a yeast-extract sucrose broth (YES) and potato-dextrose agar (PDA) and then exposed to sunlight. The weight of mycelia was decreased to 76.8% in 8 hours and to 66.7% in 168 hours(p$lt;0.05). The total aflatoxin level was significantly decreased to below 50% (46.3% in the YES broth and 49.6% in the PDA) in 8 hours (p$lt;0.05). After 168 hours, a 90.4% degradation of aflatoxin in the YES broth and a 77.2% degradation of aflatoxin in the PDA was observed, respectively (p$lt;0.01). The results showed that the degradation ratios of total aflatoxin level increased with increased exposure time to sunlight. These results indicate that sunlight could be an effective factor in aflatoxin degradation although its effect on mycelia was less pronounced.

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