Degradation of AFB in edible oil by amphipathic flower-like immobilized self-assembled peptide-based enzyme mimics.

Removing Aflatoxin B (AFB) from food, particularly edible oil detoxification, is a challenge without losing nutrients and flavor components. In this study, enzyme mimics with high-performance for AFB degradation was developed by drawing inspiration from laccase's structure and catalytic mechanism, which used de novo designed peptides as building blocks to self-assemble into supramolecular catalysts with built-in enzyme-like active sites. To further improve ability, a novel amphiphilic organic-inorganic hybrid nanoflower (EmNF-P) was constructed by using Cu as inorganic component and enzyme mimics as organic component, and surface-modifying with amphipathic polymer. Due to the high surface area, enzyme confinement effect and the amphipathic character, the EmNF-P showed better performances in AFB degradation in peanut oil. Moreover, the AFB transformation product showed nontoxicity and the quality of peanut oil had no obvious change after treatment. This study offers a novel strategy for effective detoxification of AFB in edible oils, demonstrating promising application prospects.