Schiff base: A high affinity chemical agent to decrease the concentration of aflatoxin M1 in raw milk contaminated artificially

In the present study were conducted the effect of pH (5.5, 6.0 and 6.5) and concentration of new synthesized 3-/2-aminophenylimino-(p-toluoyl)/-4-hydroxy-6-(p-tolyl)-2H-pyrane-2-one (Schiff base) on decrease the concentration of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in raw milk contaminated with known concentration of this toxin. Experiments were carried out at temperature of 4 °C during 35 days. At pH 5.5 Schiff base concentration of 0.1 µmol/L was lessening the concentration of AFM1 after 35 days by 55 %. However, at pH 6.5 the most effective concentration for lessening of AFM1 was 0.5 µmol/L. Schiff base was not effective at pH value of 7 or higher. The ability of Schiff base to act as antimycotoxigenic agent provides new perspective for possibly using this compound to control AFM1 contamination in milk and to extent shelf lives of this food. Detection of toxicity of investigated Schiff base was performed by using the brine shrimp (Artemia salina) larvae as an biological indicator to determine their sensitivity to this chemical agent.