Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or liver cancer, is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Research estimates the global burden of aflatoxin-related HCC. Of the 550,000-600,000 new HCC cases worldwide each year, about 25,200-155,000 may be attributable to aflatoxin exposure. Aflatoxin may play a causative role in 4.6-28.2% of all global HCC cases.

In Detoxive, we offer an inline aflatoxin detection device for grains by hyperspectral imaging. We mainly concentrate on peanuts and corn. The following are the key reasons why we chose these products in the first phase of our project:

Peanuts are the most consumed groundnut in the world. World production of peanuts was approximately 47 million metric tons in 2020. Aflatoxin can be transferred from peanuts to products made from peanuts, such as peanut butter.

Corn is a vital crop for local communities as well as the global food system. Corn is used for a variety of purposes, including animal feed, grain for human consumption, ethanol, as well as high fructose corn syrup, sweeteners, starch, and beverage/alcohol production. It is the world's most dominant and productive crop, with extensive areas of land dedicated to global production yields of over 1 billion metric tons. In addition, aflatoxin B1 can be converted to another dangerous type through cow's milk. Due to humans' daily consumption of milk, providing healthy corn for cows is very important.