Risk assessment of the mycotoxin zearalenone.

The aim of this review is to give a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on plant metabolites of mycotoxins, also called masked mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites, toxic to human and animals. Toxigenic fungi often grow on edible plants, thus contaminating food and feed. Plants, as living organisms, can alter the chemical structure of mycotoxins as part of their defence against xenobiotics. The extractable conjugated or non-extractable bound mycotoxins formed remain present in the plant tissue but are currently neither routinely screened for in food nor regulated by legislation, thus they may be considered masked. Fusarium mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, fumonisins, nivalenol, fusarenon-X, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, fusaric acid) are prone to metabolisation or binding by plants, but transformation of other mycotoxins by plants (ochratoxin A, patulin, destruxins) has also been described. Toxicological data are scarce, but several studies highlight the potential threat to consumer safety from these substances. In particular, the possible hydrolysis of masked mycotoxins back to their toxic parents during mammalian digestion raises concerns. Dedicated chapters of this article address plant metabolism as well as the occurrence of masked mycotoxins in food, analytical aspects for their determination, toxicology and their impact on stakeholders.

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Masked mycotoxins: A review

Enzymatic inactivation of fungal toxins is an attractive strategy for the decontamination of agricultural commodities and for the protection of crops from phytotoxic effects of fungal metabolites. This review summarizes research on the biological detoxification of fungal toxins by microorganisms and plants and its practical applications. Some mycotoxins are detoxified during ensiling and other fermentation processes (aflatoxins, alternariol, mycophenolic acid, patulin, PR toxin) while others are transformed into toxic products or survive fermentation unchanged. Plants can detoxify fomannoxin, fusaric acid, HC-toxin, ochratoxin A and oxalate but the degradation of deoxynivalenol has yet to be proven. Microflora of the digestive tract of vertebrates and invertebrates exhibit detoxification activities towards aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, oxalate and trichothecenes. Some toxin-producing fungi are able to degrade or transform their own products under suitable conditions. Pure cultures of bacteria and fungi which detoxify mycotoxins have been isolated from complex microbial populations by screening and enrichment culture techniques. Genes responsible for some of the detoxification activities have been cloned and expressed in heterologous hosts. The detoxification of aflatoxins, cercosporin, fumonisins, fusaric acid, ochratoxin A, oxalic acid, patulin, trichothecenes and zearalenone by pure cultures is reviewed. Finally, current application of these results in food and feed production and plant breeding is summarized and expected future developments are outlined.

Biological detoxification of fungal toxins and its use in plant breeding, feed and food production.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi poisonous for humans or animals which can be found on a great variety of food and feed commodities. Food is not necessarily safe just because the presence of well-known mycotoxins has been ruled out, as they might still be there in disguise. Mycotoxins may also occur in conjugated form, either soluble (masked mycotoxins) or incorporated into/associated with/attached to macromolecules (bound mycotoxins). These conjugated mycotoxins can emerge after metabolization by living plants, fungi and mammals or after food processing. Awareness of such altered forms of mycotoxins is increasing, but reliable analytical methods, measurement standards and occurrence and toxicity data are still lacking. In this paper currently known conjugated mycotoxins, their formation and determination are reviewed. For the latter, liquid chromatography-(tandem) mass spectrometry or ELISA methods are employed with or without conversion to the parent mycotoxins. Sample preparation to transform the bound forms into soluble forms can involve enzymatic or acidic/alkaline treatment. Especially mycotoxins which are in contact with living plants in the field are prone to be metabolized. This transformation process is not only important regarding food safety but also for the resistance of plants towards fungal-induced diseases, such as Fusarium head blight of wheat.

Formation, determination and significance of masked and other conjugated mycotoxins

Zearalenone (ZEA) is a macrocyclic β-resorcylic acid lactone produced by numerous species of Fusarium. It frequently contaminates corn and cereal products in many regions of the world. The biological activity of ZEA is dominated by its pronounced oestrogenicity, which is even enhanced in certain reductive metabolites. This review updates the metabolism in fungi, plants and mammalian systems, as well as the pharmacokinetics of ZEA. The present evidence for the hormonal effects of the parent mycoestrogen and some of its metabolites in vitro and in farm and experimental animals in vivo is reviewed, together with its association with endocrine-disruptive effects in humans. Possible mechanisms of the oestrogenic and carcinogenic activity of ZEA are discussed and future areas of research proposed.

Zearalenone and its metabolites as endocrine disrupting chemicals

Three recognized 12,13-epoxytrichothecene mycotoxins, trichothecolone, diacetoxyscirpenol, and T-2 toxin, and a hyperestrogenic factor, zearalenone, together with the fatty acid esters of trichothecolone, scirpenetriol, T-2 tetraol, and zearalenone, were isolated from the flask culture extractives of Fusarium moniliforme Sheldon (IMI 225232) as well as from the fruit of banana (Musa sapientum L.) infected with the same fungus in the field and in storage. The total concentrations of these toxins in the naturally infected fruits were quite high (0.8 to 1.0 mg/g of fruit). F. moniliforme infections of banana fruits, being of wide occurrence in the world, could cause serious health problems in humans when the infected fruits are ingested for a prolonged period of time.

Occurrence of free and conjugated 12,13-epoxytrichothecenes and zearalenone in banana fruits infected with Fusarium moniliforme.

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Occurrence of free and conjugated 12,13-epoxytrichothecenes and zearalenone in banana fruits infected with Fusarium moniliforme.