Sustainable Strategies to Counteract Mycotoxins Contamination and Cowpea Weevil in Chickpea Seeds during Post-Harvest.

Mycotoxins contamination and pest infestation of foods and feeds represent a pivotal threat for food safety and security worldwide, with crucial implications for human and animal health. Controlled atmosphere could be a sustainable strategy to reduce mycotoxins content and counteract the vitality of deleterious organisms in foodstuff. Ozone treatment (O 3 , 500 ppb for 30, 60 or 90 min) and high nitrogen concentration (N 2 , 99% for 21 consecutive days) were tested in the post-harvest management of four batches of Cicer arietinum grains to control the presence of mycotoxigenic fungi and their secondary metabolites, as well as pest (i.e., Callosobruchus maculatus ) infestation. At the end of the treatment, O 3 significantly decreased the incidence of Penicillium spp. (by an average of -50%, independently to the time of exposure) and reduced the patulin and aflatoxins content after 30 min (-85 and -100%, respectively). High N 2 concentrations remarkably reduced mycotoxins contamination (by an average of -94%) and induced pest mortality (at 100% after 5 days of exposure). These results confirm the promising potential of O 3 and N 2 in post-harvest conservation strategies, leading to further investigations to evaluate the effects on the qualitative characteristics of grains.