Moderate elimination of mycotoxins in vegetable oil triggered by superoxide anion and singlet oxygen

Establishing a moderate elimination strategy for mycotoxins with the maintained food nutrition is significant to food safety. Herein, the Au-NPs decorated defective Bi2WO6 (Au-BWO-OV) with modulated ROS generation was successfully synthesized, integrating the merits of defect-engineering and Au-NPs induced LSPR-effect. The Au-BWO-OV exhibited modified photoelectrochemical property and O2-adsorption capacity, supporting the selective generation of •O2− and 1O2 with moderate oxidizing ability. As a result, >90% of AFB1 and ZEN were eliminated within 100 and 50 min, along with the maintained nutrition in vegetable oil. Moreover, the reasonable degradation mechanism triggered by •O2− and 1O2 was proposed based on the trapping experiments, DFT calculations and LC-MS analysis for intermediate products, including the steps of hydrolysis, oxidative dissociation, cis-trans isomerization, and dehydroxylation. This work not only paved the way for balancing the contradiction between detoxification and nutrient retention, but also casted new insights into the ROS-mediated degradation mechanism. [Display omitted] •Au-NPs decorated defective Bi2WO6 with modulated ROS generation was synthesized.•Mycotoxins in vegetable oil was moderately eliminated with maintained nutrition.•The dispensable role of •O2− and 1O2 in detoxification was elucidated.•Reasonable mechanisms were proposed based on DFT calculations and LC-MS analysis.