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Review
. 2021 Jan 9;13(1):46.
doi: 10.3390/toxins13010046.

Aflatoxin Detoxification Using Microorganisms and Enzymes

Yun Guan  1 , Jia Chen  1 , Eugenie Nepovimova  2 , Miao Long  1 , Wenda Wu  2   3 , Kamil Kuca  2
Affiliations
Review

Aflatoxin Detoxification Using Microorganisms and Enzymes

Yun Guan et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Mycotoxin contamination causes significant economic loss to food and feed industries and seriously threatens human health. Aflatoxins (AFs) are one of the most harmful mycotoxins, which are produced by Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, and other fungi that are commonly found in the production and preservation of grain and feed. AFs can cause harm to animal and human health due to their toxic (carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic) effects. How to remove AF has become a major problem: biological methods cause no contamination, have high specificity, and work at high temperature, affording environmental protection. In the present research, microorganisms with detoxification effects researched in recent years are reviewed, the detoxification mechanism of microbes on AFs, the safety of degrading enzymes and reaction products formed in the degradation process, and the application of microorganisms as detoxification strategies for AFs were investigated. One of the main aims of the work is to provide a reliable reference strategy for biological detoxification of AFs.

Keywords: aflatoxin; biological detoxification; degradation products; detoxification mechanism; probiotics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structures of some natural AFs (Aflatoxins B1 and G1 have double bonds at positions 8–9; aflatoxins B2 and G2 do not).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The adsorption of AFs by microorganisms (taking AFB1 as an example). Microorganisms can adsorb AFs through peptidoglycan or phosphoric acid in the cytoderm, and hydrophobic and electrostatic interaction.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The mechanism of AFB1 degradation. Armillariella tabescens and the AFO produced therewith can act on the dilute ether bond of the furan ring to activate AFB1 transforming it into an epoxide. The hydrolysis reaction was conducted to generate a new compound with significantly reduced toxicity: AFB1-8,9-dihydrodiol.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The mechanism by which laccase degrades AFB1. Laccase can act on the double bond of the furan ring to undergo an addition reaction. As shown, the degradation product with molecular formula C17H14O7 (unstable structure) is first produced, then the elimination reaction occurs to generate two degradation products with different structures: C16H14O6 and C16H12O7.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Molecular structures of some key AF metabolites.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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