Pre-harvest and post-harvest methods are two types of prophylactic techniques for preventing mycotoxigenic fungal development and/or the production of their toxin. There are three degrees of fungal and associated mycotoxins protection in agricultural commodities: primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention [12].

1) Primary prevention entails a variety of activities aimed at keeping the environment unfavorable for fungal growth, these includes:

· Establishing a pre-harvest schedule that is appropriate.

· Fungal types of growing plants are being developed.

· Managing fungi-infected planting crops in the field.

· Reducing the moisture content of plant seeds upon harvest and during storage.

· Whenever feasible, keep commodities at a low temperature.

· Fungicides and preservatives are used to prevent fungal development.

· Use approved insecticides to control insect infestations in stored bulk grains.

Grain dryer control systems can be used to increase drier throughput while maintaining optimal energy efficiency and minimizing grain quality degradation. The three most common methods for drying cereal grains are in-storage layer drying, batch drying, and continuous flow drying [23].

2) Secondary prevention deals with early prevention if some fungi infect commodities at an early stage. This includes:

· Re-drying items to stop the growth of infected fungus.

· Seeds that have been infected must be removed.

· Detoxification or inactivation of mycotoxins that have been contaminated.

· Keeping kept goods safe from conditions that foster fungus growth.

3) Tertiary prevention is applied, when products are heavily infested with dangerous fungus. This includes:

· Complete eradication of tainted goods.

· Mycotoxins are detoxified or destroyed to a minimum amount.

The first step for being able to reduce mycotoxins in cereals is to be able to detect them early, The development of electronic nose technology has generated interest in using characteristic volatiles and fragrances as a rapid, early indicator of grain quality decline to detect quality changes in cereal grains [24].

Mycotoxins can be kept out of the food chain if only high-quality items are stored in silos and suitable farming practices are followed. Decontamination of mycotoxin in the later phases of food production is challenging; it raises production costs and the outcomes aren’t always good. A review of mycotoxin contamination prevention in food and feed provided agronomical approaches, food and feed storage guidelines, practical feed decontamination procedures, and the use of feed additives where mycotoxin contamination prevention has failed [25].

Deactivation of existing mycotoxins in feed or food is one of the therapeutic approaches [15]. To decontaminate/detoxify mycotoxins from various agricultural products, natural methods (physical treatment) such as thermal insulation, radiation treatment, and low-temperature plasma, chemical methods such as oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, alcoholysis, and absorption, and biological methods with the use of biological agents can all be used [2].

1) Physical treatment

Mycotoxins are naturally removed through a variety of methods. Sorting, processing, storage, radiation, cold plasma, and mycotoxins binders are a few of them.

Sorting is the initial step in natural disinfection, which is accomplished by cleaning and sorting processes. Because aflatoxin infection is typically diverse, separating damaged nuclei can significantly limit infection. A reduction of 27 percent to 93 percent is projected after sorting the diseased grain. This process is considered preferable because there is no risk of manufacturing degraded items [26].

Processing: Although mycotoxins are thermally stable molecules, they have been demonstrated to be diminished by several traditional food preparation processes (baking, frying) at temperatures surpassing 1000˚C. The processing temperature and moisture content of the granules have an impact on the decrease of mycotoxins by 50% to 80% during the extrusion process. Furthermore, temperatures between 150 and 2000 degrees Celsius significantly reduce aflatoxin (AFB1), with an average drop of 79 percent, and are much more effective at high humidity levels [27].

Storage: Controlling mycotoxins is complicated by environmental factors. Temperature and humidity are two essential variables that boost both fungal growth and the manufacture of mycotoxins because they affect the total growth of fungus. Storage under controlled environments, such as packing, temperature control, ventilation, and proper air humidity, helps to prevent fungal growth and the accumulation of mycotoxins. Crop losses have ranged from 20% to 50% in underdeveloped countries due to insufficient storage techniques [28].

Radiation is usually classified as ionizing and non-ionizing. It contributes to the reduction or elimination, Mycotoxins are a natural detoxifying agent for pathogenic microbes in grains, although they are only partially eliminated in diets. This technology can be used in an industrial setting because it distributes energy and modifies the molecular structure of food items through a series of reactions [29].

Cold plasma (CP) Plasma is a word for the fourth state of matter, which is mostly made up of photons, ions, and free radicals such as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, all of which have specific physical and chemical properties. Using low-pressure cold plasma, researchers were able to detoxify up to 50% of aflatoxins on the surface of nuts. However, due to the lack of information on the possible creation of hazardous chemicals, this approach should be used with caution [30].

Mycotoxin binders attach to mycotoxins and prevent them from entering the bloodstream through the gut, preventing mycotoxins from being absorbed. Absorbent compounds include activated carbon, aluminosilicates, complicated non-digestible polysaccharides, and cholesterol. Binding mycotoxin is a physical method of stopping bacteria from degrading aflatoxins [31]. Activated carbon was used to eliminate patulin from naturally contaminated cider and aflatoxin from naturally infected milk, according to studies [32]. Mycotoxins levels were lowered using this method, but more research is needed to ensure food safety.

To eliminate, destroy, or suppress the toxicity of mycotoxins, many physical procedures have been revised. Physical removal of contaminated areas of foodstuffs, heat treatment, and irradiation to transform toxins into comparatively benign chemicals, or the inclusion of adjuvants to reduce or otherwise hide the adverse effects of toxins are examples of these procedures. These treatments include food drying and roasting, irradiation, bio-absorption of aflatoxins in animal feed, and other ozone-based methods [15].

In 2004-2005, the Lithuanian University of Agriculture, Laboratory of Heat and Biotechnological Engineering investigated the efficacy of physical means (ozone) for reducing mycological pollution of grain surfaces, as well as the use of ozone for reducing mycological infection in cereal grain to clean grain from microbiological contamination. Based on moisture content w (for grain w = 15.2 percent) to 3 times (for grain w = 22.0 percent), an ozone-air mixture used for active ventilation grain drying (with an ozone concentration of 700 ppb) can reduce drying time by roughly 20%, and mycological pollution by about 2.2 percent) [33].

2) Chemical treatment

This can be achieved using bases (ammonia, hydrated oxide), chitosan, ozone treatment.

Bases (ammonia, hydrated oxide) are used to treat seeds with ammonia to reduce the number of mycotoxins (AFs, FBs, OTs) to undetectable levels while blocking mycotoxigenic fungal growth. Treatment with bases, on the other hand, is prohibited in the European Union for food meant for human consumption. Mycotoxin detoxification was aided greatly by the use of a glycerol and calcium hydroxide combination. Although sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide are commonly used to break down AFB1 in tainted oil, these chemicals have the potential to cause secondary contamination and have poor nutritional effects on the commodities [29].

Chitosan is a linear polymer that inhibits fungi, bacteria, and viruses. It is the second most abundant carbohydrate in nature after cellulose. Chitosan’s biocompatibility and antibacterial characteristics make it a promising candidate for food preservation [34]. The combined effects of chitosan on maize and wheat grains for controlling fungal growth and mycotoxin production of FBs and DON by Fusarium species (F. proliferatum, F. graminearum, and F. verticilliodes) were reported, showing a decrease in DON and FB production in irradiated maize and wheat grains after the application of low-molecular-weight chitosan with deacetylation above 70%. Furthermore, wheat grains containing 1 percent chitosan and 1 percent lemon essential oils from the marine brown algae Ascophyllum nodosum had decreased DON levels [35].

Ozone treatment deals with Ozone therapy by applying ozone (O₃) to aid in the breakdown of certain mycotoxins. Ozonation is a straightforward procedure that leaves no hazardous leftovers after use [36]. Ozone is used to sterilize cereals, vegetables, and fruits, as well as to detoxify mycotoxins [37]. Because aflatoxins, particularly AFB1 and AFG1, have a C8 - C9 double bond in their structures, Agriopoulo et al. discovered that ozone gas was particularly effective in destroying them [38]. Aflatoxin AFG1 was discovered to be the most sensitive. Ozone therapy resulted in a significant reduction in DON under optimum conditions (55g O₃-1 for 6 hours) (29 percent - 32 percent) [39].

3) Biological control

This is done by using the bacteria treatment method, Yeast application method, food fermentation, applying non-toxic fungi, and enzymatic detoxification.

The bacteria treatment method is useful since certain bacteria can bind mycotoxins in food or liquids, they are used in the bacteria treatment strategy. Flavobacterium aurantiacum B-184 was the only bacteria out of over 1000 evaluated for probable aflatoxins degradation that was capable of irreversibly eliminating aflatoxins from solutions [40]. The bacterium Enterococcus faecium detoxifies AFB1 by adhering to the bacterium’s cell wall components. With the help of microorganisms, peptidoglycans and polysaccharides found in bacterial cell walls were found to be responsible for the binding of mycotoxins [41]. Furthermore, bacterial detoxification of the mycotoxin DON has evolved as a result of research and improvements. Aerobic oxidation and partitioning of DON into C3 carbon, which is carried by various Devosia species, can reduce DON pollution. Lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus (L.) casei and Lactobacillus reuter) may successfully bind to aflatoxins in aqueous solutions [22]. In additional in vitro experiments, Lactobacillus amylovorus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus demonstrated a binding efficacy of up to 60% AFB1, showing their potential to bind specific dietary contaminants. A reduction of 98 percent FB1 and 84 percent T-2 was also reported during fermentation of whole-grain sorghum with Lactobacillus fermentum [42].

The yeast application approach is a potential technique for mycotoxin infection therapy that involves the use of biological control agents (BCA) [43]. The use of yeast is particularly interesting since yeast produces antimicrobial compounds that are beneficial to people and animals; yet, yeasts may quickly grow on any substrate in bioreactors [44]. Moreover, yeasts do not produce allergens or other secondary compounds, unlike many filamentous fungi or bacterial antagonists [45]. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a probiotic yeast that digests DON and reduces the synthesis of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in DON-stimulated cells [46].

Food fermentation is utilized to improve food while also making it more appealing to consumers. Fermentation is a low-cost mycotoxin disinfection technology that can be used to improve food ingredients while also lowering or eliminating mycotoxins. Fermentation is a more cost-effective and practical way to reduce mycotoxins than the more costly and inconvenient options. The nature of metabolites and the toxicity of products formed after fermentation should be thoroughly documented for safe food production.

Applying Fungi done by the application of fungus to maize, cotton, pistachio, and peanuts using non-toxic strains of A. flavus and A. parasiticus resulted in considerable reductions in aflatoxins contamination. In terms of fungus and detoxification, it has been discovered that fungi that create Mycotoxins can also degrade them [47]. When fungi are starving for energy, they can degrade, convert, and use degradation products as a source of energy. Fungi including Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Trichoderma, Clonostachys, and Penicillium spp. successfully detoxify mycotoxins. In both west and east Africa, competition is used to suppress Aflatoxins in maize with non-toxigenic microbial strains. Non-toxic A. parasiticus inoculants, in large quantities, enter the soil around the crops, competing with toxigenic strains [48].

Enzymatic Detoxification: here the chemical and biological processing aspects of Enzymatic Detoxification of Mycotoxins are combined. It has excellent performance and specialization, and it may be utilized in low-toxicity situations without harming organisms. In non-stoichiometric mycotoxin ratios, enzymes also behave as catalysts [49]. Some species of Aspergillus can produce an enzyme that can detoxify fumonisins, including those produced by Fusarium. The anti-infection activity of enzymes like 1,3-glucanases and chitinase varies depending on the microorganism’s characteristics. Fruit rotting fungus growth is slowed and reduced when -1,3-glucanases and chitinases are used [50]. A.Niger complex Penicillium simplicissiumun is suppressed. The growth of Penicillium nalgiovense and A. flavus was enhanced by spraying 50 percent 1,3-glucanase and 50 percent and 40 percent chitinase on salami surface samples. As a result, 1,3-glucanase and chitinase could be employed as a safe alternative in the fermented sausage industry to control fungal deterioration. Using microbial manganese peroxide, oxidase enzymes, catalase, and laccase enzymes, enzymatic detoxification of AFB1 was also achieved [48]. Enzymes, on the other hand, have an untapped profile when it comes to detoxifying food toxins due to their favorable toxicity and specificity [51]. In the European Union, no enzyme for eliminating mycotoxin contamination from foods has been approved.