Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Foods: Unraveling the Knowledge Gaps on Their Persistence in Food Production Systems

Cytotoxic Profiles of Beauvericin, Citrinin, Moniliformin, and Patulin and Their Binary Combinations: A Literature-Based Comparison and Experimental Validation in SH-SY5Y Cells

Mycotoxins are toxic compounds found in food and feed that pose significant risks to human and animal health. This work reviews recent studies on the cytotoxic effects of four mycotoxins: beauvericin (BEA), citrinin (CTN), moniliformin (MON), and patulin (PAT) in various cell lines. Additionally, an experimental study evaluates the effects of these mycotoxins and their binary combinations on human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) after 24 and 48 h of exposure using the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay. This analysis is driven by the additional risks posed by the frequent occurrence of these combinations in agricultural and food products, as well as the lack of studies addressing their effects, interactions, and regulatory frameworks. This research focuses on comparing the cytotoxicity data obtained in the SH-SY5Y cell line with previously reported findings in the literature for other cell lines exposed to BEA, CTN, MON, and PAT, individually and in binary combination. The literature highlights significant scientific interest in understanding the cytotoxic effects of these mycotoxins, with findings varying based on exposure time and concentration. Experimentally, PAT demonstrated the highest toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells, while MON was the least toxic. Among combinations, BEA + MON and CTN + PAT showed the greatest reduction in cell viability. However, medium inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were not reached for most combinations involving MON, reflecting its lower potency under the studied conditions. These findings underscore the importance of further investigation and enhanced regulations to address the health risks posed by mycotoxins, as their cytotoxic effects remain a pressing issue in food safety.

Application of cold atmospheric plasma for decontamination of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins: a systematic review

Introduction

Microbial contamination remains a vital challenge across the food production chain, particularly due to mycotoxins-secondary metabolites produced by several genera of fungi such as Aspergillus, Fusarium, Alternaria, and Penicillium. These toxins, including aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins, and trichothecenes (nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, T2, HT-2). These contaminants pose severe risks to human and animal health, with their potential to produce a variety of different toxic effects. Notably, up to 50% of global cereal production is affected by mycotoxin contamination, leading to significant economic losses. Current research focuses on innovative technologies to mitigate mycotoxins, with cold atmospheric pressure plasma emerging as a promising decontamination method.

Method

This systematic review aimed at describing recent advances in the application of cold atmospheric plasma for the decontamination of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins.

Results and discussion

Cold atmospheric plasma offers a sustainable and cost effective solution to preserve food quality while inactivating toxigenic fungi and degrading mycotoxins. Through the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, cold plasma disrupts fungal cell integrity, hinders spore germination, and inhibits toxin biosynthesis. Additionally, cold atmospheric plasma-driven degradation of mycotoxins involves structural modifications, breaking key molecular bonds that reduce toxicity. The effectiveness of cold plasma depends on operational parameters and the specific characteristics of the treated food, with notable efficacy in degrading aflatoxin B1 and deoxynivalenol by converting them into less toxic substances and inhibiting their spores and DNA responsible for their biosynthesis. While the data demonstrates that cold atmospheric plasma has minimal impact on food composition, further research is needed to fully assess the nature of the degradation products of mycotoxins, its influence on food quality attributes and to optimize application strategies for different products.

A pretreatment-free and eco-friendly rapid detection for mycotoxins in edible oils based on magnetic separation technique

Pretreatment steps of current rapid detection methods for mycotoxins in edible oils not only restrict detection efficiency, but also produce organic waste liquid to pollute environment. In this work, a pretreatment-free and eco-friendly rapid detection method for edible oil is established. This proposed method does not require pretreatment operation, and automated quantitative detection could be achieved by directly adding oil samples. According to polarity of target molecules, the content of surfactant in reaction solutions could be adjusted to achieve the quantitative detection of AFB1 in peanut oil and ZEN in corn oil. The recoveries are between 96.5%-110.7% with standard deviation <10.4%, and the limit of detection is 0.17 μg/kg for AFB1 and 4.91 μg/kg for ZEN. This method realizes full automation of the whole chain detection, i.e. sample in-result out, and is suitable for the on-site detection of batches of edible oils samples.

Effect of Spirulina and Fish Processing By-Products Extracts on Citrinin-Induced Cytotoxicity in SH-SY5Y Cells

Citrinin (CIT) is a mycotoxin commonly found in grains, fruits, herbs, and spices. Its toxicity primarily affects the kidney and liver. Meanwhile, food industry by-products, particularly from fishing and aquaculture, contribute significantly to environmental concerns but can also serve as valuable sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds. Additionally, microalgae like spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) offer interesting high-added-value compounds with potential biological and cytoprotective properties. This study aims to reduce CIT's toxicity on SH-SY5Y cells using natural extracts from the microalgae spirulina and fish processing by-products (sea bass head). The combination of these extracts with CIT has shown increased cell viability up to 15% for fish by-products extract and about 10% for spirulina extract compared to CIT alone. Furthermore, a notable reduction of up to 63.2% in apoptosis has been observed when fish by-products extracts were combined with CIT, counteracting the effects of CIT alone. However, the extracts' effectiveness in preventing CIT toxicity in the cell cycle remains unclear. Overall, considering these nutrient and bioactive compound sources is crucial for enhancing food safety and mitigating the harmful effects of contaminants such as mycotoxins. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to investigate their mechanisms of action and better understand their protective effects more comprehensively.

The Potential of Multi-Screening Methods and Omics Technologies to Detect Both Regulated and Emerging Mycotoxins in Different Matrices

Mycotoxins are well-known secondary metabolites produced by several fungi that grow and occur in different crops during both pre-harvest and post-harvest conditions. The contamination and occurrence of mycotoxins currently represent some of the major issues in the entire agri-food system. The quantification of mycotoxins in different feeds and foodstuffs is extremely difficult because of the low concentration ranges; therefore, both sample collection and preparation are essential to providing accurate detection and reliable quantification. Currently, several analytical methods are available for the detection of mycotoxins in both feed and food products, and liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) represents the most reliable instrumental approach. In particular, the fast development of high-throughput methods has made it possible to screen and analyze, in the same analytical run and with high accuracy, multiple mycotoxins, such as those regulated, masked, or modified, and emerging ones. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide an overview of the state of the art of mycotoxins occurrence, health-related concerns, and analyses, discussing the need to perform multi-screening approaches combined with omics technologies to simultaneously analyze several mycotoxins in different feed and food matrices. This approach is expected to provide more comprehensive information about the profile and distribution of emerging mycotoxins, thus enhancing the understanding of their co-occurrence and impact on the entire production chain.

Exposure assessment of children to dietary mycotoxins: A pilot study conducted in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil

Exposure to mycotoxins through food is a major health concern, especially for youngsters. This study performed a preliminary investigation on children's exposure to dietary mycotoxins in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Sampling procedures were conducted between August and December 2022, to collect foods (N = 213) available for consumption in the households of children (N = 67), including preschoolers (aged 3-6 years, n = 21), schoolers (aged 7-10 years, n = 15), and adolescents (aged 11-17 years, n = 31) cared in the Vila Lobato Community Social Medical Center of Ribeirão Preto. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used to determine concentrations of the mycotoxins in foods. Mycotoxins measured in all foods comprised aflatoxins (AFs), fumonisins (FBs), zearalenone (ZEN), T-2 toxin, deoxynivalenol (DON) and ochratoxin A (OTA). Higher incidence and levels were found for FBs, ZEN, and DON in several commonly consumed foods. Furthermore, 32.86 % foods had two to four quantifiable mycotoxins in various combinations. The mean estimated daily intake (EDI) values were lower than the tolerable daily intake (TDI) for AFs, FBs, and ZEN, but higher than the TDI (1.0 µg/kg bw/day) for DON, hence indicating a health risk for all children age groups. Preschoolers and adolescents were exposed to DON through wheat products (EDIs: 2.696 ± 7.372 and 1.484 ± 2.395 µg/kg body weight (bw)/day, respectively), while schoolers were exposed through wheat products (EDI: 1.595 ± 1.748 µg/kg bw/day) and rice (EDI: 1.391 ± 1.876 µg/kg bw/day). The results indicate that wheat-based foods and rice may be risky to children, implying the need for stringent measures to avoid DON contamination in these products.