Extrusion technology for mycotoxin reduction in cereals: Process parameters, technological advances, advantages, limitations, and future perspectives

• Mycotoxins produced by toxigenic fungal species are regularly found in cereals. • This review highlights extrusion cooking as a promising technology for effectively degrading or inactivating mycotoxins in cereals. • Optimization of key extrusion parameters for maximum reduction of mycotoxin in cereals are also reviewed. • It examines the advantages, limitations, and recent advances in extrusion for mycotoxin reduction in cereals. • Overall, optimized extrusion processes offer a scalable and sustainable approach to improving food safety, public health, and global food security. Cereals are essential staple foods that supply vital nutrients, energy, and dietary fibre to billions of people worldwide. However, their susceptibility to mycotoxin contamination can compromise cereal quality, safety, and trade. Conventional mitigation strategies, such as biological, physical, and chemical treatments, often yield limited success or degrade the nutritional value of cereal-based products. Extrusion cooking is a promising solution for reducing mycotoxins in cereals using high temperatures, pressure, and shear forces to degrade or inactivate mycotoxins while enhancing product properties. The effectiveness of extrusion depends on optimizing key processing parameters, such as temperature, moisture content, screw speed, residence time, and feed composition. Despite the demonstrated potential of extrusion to reduce mycotoxins in cereals, studies that systematically optimize extrusion parameters for effective mitigation remain limited. This review highlights the major mycotoxins contaminating cereals, including aflatoxins (AFs), zearalenone (ZEN), fumonisins (FBs), deoxynivalenol (DON), and ochratoxins (OTs), along with their toxicities and the key challenges in mitigating contamination in cereals. It further evaluates extrusion as a promising mitigation strategy and emphasizes the importance of optimizing critical extrusion parameters to maximize mycotoxin reduction in cereal-based foods. Additionally, it evaluates the impact of extrusion on reducing mycotoxin toxicity in humans and animals. It critically appraises the advantages and limitations of extrusion as a mitigation strategy, alongside recent technological advances for mycotoxin reduction in cereal-based products. Overall, optimizing extrusion processes presents a scalable, sustainable, and practical approach to improving food safety, public health, and global food security.