*4.3. Infrared with Alkaline Treatment*

There are contradictory results concerning the nixtamalization efficiency in reducing aflatoxins in maize by using the traditional process. Rodríguez–Aguilar et al., proposed the non-efficiency of the traditional nixtamalization process (TNP) in the elimination of aflatoxins from contaminated maize [51]. Meanwhile, Zavala–Franco et al., found that TNP can degrade aflatoxins in maize by 98.35%. The same study proposed using infrared as an alternative to heat treatment in the nixtamalization process. The applied protocol satisfactorily achieved a degradation rate of 93.82%. No formation of AFB1-Lys occurred with the infrared nixtamalization process. This combination of alkaline treatment with infrared seems to be promising for mitigating mycotoxins while generating fewer toxic materials than the traditional process [130].
