Apple Quality, Storage, and Washing Treatments Affect Patulin Levels in Apple Cider

Abstract

Patulin is a mycotoxin produced primarily by Penicillium expansum, a mold responsible for rot in apples and other fruits. The growth of this fungus and the production of patulin are common in fruit that has been damaged. However, patulin can be detected in visibly sound fruit. The purpose of this project was to determine how apple quality, storage, and washing treatments affect patulin levels in apple cider. Patulin was not detected in cider pressed from fresh tree-picked apples (seven cultivars) but was found at levels of 40.2 to 374 microg/liter in cider pressed from four cultivars of fresh ground-harvested (dropped) apples. Patulin was not detected in cider pressed from culled tree-picked apples stored for 4 to 6 weeks at 0 to 2 degrees C but was found at levels of 0.97 to 64.0 microg/liter in cider pressed from unculled fruit stored under the same conditions. Cider from controlled-atmosphere-stored apples that were culled before pressing contained 0 to 15.1 microg of patulin per liter, while cider made from unculled fruit contained 59.9 to 120.5 microg of patulin per liter. The washing of ground-harvested apples before pressing reduced patulin levels in cider by 10 to 100%, depending on the initial patulin levels and the type of wash solution used. These results indicate that patulin is a good indicator of the quality of the apples used to manufacture cider. The avoidance of ground-harvested apples and the careful culling of apples before pressing are good methods for reducing patulin levels in cider.

Mycotoxin Contamination of Beverages: Occurrence of Patulin in Apple Juice and Ochratoxin A in Coffee, Beer and Wine and Their Control Methods

“…One alternative to room storage is the use of packaging materials such as polyethylene, which through their own atmospheric control, have been shown to reduce patulin production in apples [211]. In the same study mentioned previously [206], patulin was not detected in cider from tree-picked apples stored 4 to 6 weeks at 0 to 2 °C, but was detected at levels between 0.97 and 64 µg/Lin stored, tree-picked, unculled fruit. Cider from apples stored in a controlled atmosphere and culled showed 0 to 15.1 µg/L patulin while unculled apple fruit yielded 59.9 to 120.5 µg/Lpatulin.…”

“…However, this process is expensive and labour intensive. Furthermore, patulin can be detected in visibly sound fruit [206] and can spread from rotten areas of apples into sound areas [220]. Two studies have shown that patulin could diffuse 1 to 2 cm from the rotten core in apples [217,221].…”

“…Studies have examined the effect of fruit quality and harvest method on the patulin content of the resultant juices. In a study, patulin was undetectable in cider from seven cultivars when fruit was tree-picked cider, whereas it was detected between 40.2 and 374 µg/L in cider from four cultivars when fruit was ground-harvested cider [206]. Many of the patulin control measures suggested by the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme are based upon the careful selection of fruits as good agricultural practice [207].…”

Organic Food: Buying More Safety or Just Peace of Mind? A Critical Review of the Literature

“…Others, however, do not support this finding: patulin levels in conventional apple-based products ranged from 5.8 to 56.4 µg/kg with an average of 24.76 µg/kg, while in organic products they ranged from 1.4 to 74.2 µg/kg with an average of 28.34 µg/kg (Ritieni, 2003). Readers should not take any of this information as an indictment of organic produce, because patulin concentrations in apples are very sensitive and responsive (both upwards and downwards) to several harvesting techniques, storage conditions, and other processing practices that are irrelevant to the farming system per se (Sydenham et al, 1997;Jackson et al, 2003).…”

Patulin and patulin producing Penicillium spp. occurrence in apples and apple-based products including baby food

“…Thus, our results confirm previous evidence that the absence of visible symptoms of apple fruit rot does not exclude the risk of patulin contamination. Indeed, Jackson et al [36] reported the same finding and detected patulin from visibly undamaged apples at concentrations reaching 15.1 µg/L of cider when controlled storage conditions were maintained. In this context, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2003), considered the storage of apples as a critical control point, having a great influence on the risk of patulin contamination.…”