Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42024649›Full record

ArticleJournal of agricultural and food chemistry2026

Local Nixtamalization Processes Reduce Aflatoxin B1 Concentration and Shift Metabolome in Naturally Contaminated Maize.

Hannah Glesener, Andrew M P Roberts, Haadia Tanveer, Darya Abdollahzadeh, Emeline Seegmiller, Blake Su, Christopher Muse, Gabriela Montenegro-Bethencourt, Mark Weaver, Alexander A Aksenov and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Hannah GlesenerBiodesign Institute Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-5026-7625
Andrew M P RobertsDepartment of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 08269, United States.
Haadia TanveerBiodesign Institute Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, United States.
Darya AbdollahzadehBiodesign Institute Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, United States.
Emeline SeegmillerBiodesign Institute Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, United States.
Blake SuBiodesign Institute Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, United States.
Christopher MuseBiodesign Institute Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, United States.
Gabriela Montenegro-BethencourtCenter for Indigenous Health Research, Wuqu' Kawoq | Maya Health Alliance, Chimaltenango 04006, Guatemala.
Mark WeaverUSDA-ARS National Biological Control Laboratory, Stoneville, Mississippi 38776, United States.
Alexander A AksenovDepartment of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 08269, United States.
Rosa Krajmalnik-BrownBiodesign Institute Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, United States.
Lee E Voth-GaeddertBiodesign Institute Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-9541-1958

Funding

Aflatoxin Exposure, Growth Faltering, and the Gut Microbiome among Children in Rural GuatemalaR01ES033999 · NIEHS · ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS · PI Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, Peter Rohloff · 2023 to 2026
$2.1M
NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES033999
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Nixtamalization is an alkaline cooking process known to lower aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in maize, yet reported efficacy varies (28-100% reduction). Thus, existing data are not sufficient to inform nixtamalization practices in specific local contexts. To investigate this, we conducted a controlled lab study using AFB1-contaminated Guatemalan maize to evaluate the effect of current rural Guatemalan cooking practices on the AFB1 concentration. We evaluated nine conditions varying calcium hydroxide concentration, steeping duration, maize washing, and tortilla-cooking parameters. Across all conditions, the AFB1 concentration decreased by 81%, with extended steeping achieving an 86% decrease. As expected, nixtamalization substantially increased calcium content (808.22%) with modest increases in iron, copper, and magnesium, while untargeted metabolomics identified processing-associated chemical changes and preliminary annotations to inform future targeted analysis. We demonstrate that incorporating local cooking practices into systematic laboratory evaluation provides useful food safety and nutrition data, offering a scalable model for household-level interventions in toxin-exposed populations worldwide.

Indexed as

Aflatoxin B1CookingZea maysFood ContaminationGuatemalaMetabolomeAflatoxin B1alkaline cookingcorn (Zea mays)food metabolomicshousehold-level interventionmycotoxinspostharvest food safetytraditional food processing

Identifiers

PMID42024649
PMCPMC13154181

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.