Patulin in Apples and Apple-Based Food Products: The Burdens and the Mitigation Strategies

Abstract

Apples and apple-based products are among the most popular foods around the world for their delightful flavors and health benefits. However, the commonly found mold, Penicillium expansum invades wounded apples, causing the blue mold decay and ensuing the production of patulin, a mycotoxin that negatively affects human health. Patulin contamination in apple products has been a worldwide problem without a satisfactory solution yet. A comprehensive understanding of the factors and challenges associated with patulin accumulation in apples is essential for finding such a solution. This review will discuss the effects of the pathogenicity of Penicillium species, quality traits of apple cultivars, and environmental conditions on the severity of apple blue mold and patulin contamination. Moreover, beyond the complicated interactions of the three aforementioned factors, patulin control is also challenged by the lack of reliable detection methods in food matrices, as well as unclear degradation mechanisms and limited knowledge about the toxicities of the metabolites resulting from the degradations. As apple-based products are mainly produced with stored apples, pre- and post-harvest strategies are equally important for patulin mitigation. Before storage, disease-resistance breeding, orchard-management, and elicitor(s) application help control the patulin level by improving the storage qualities of apples and lowering fruit rot severity. From storage to processing, patulin mitigation strategies could benefit from the optimization of apple storage conditions, the elimination of rotten apples, and the safe and effective detoxification or biodegradation of patulin.

Occurrence of mycotoxin patulin and polyphenol profile of Nordic apple juices in relation to apple cultivation system and pre-processing storage temperature

“…It is known that patulin is mainly produced in rotten parts of the fruits (Cheraghali et al 2005). Zhong et al (2018) reported that patulin has been constantly detected in apple products made from externally healthy apples that have internal rot which is not omitted before pressing. However, Soliman et al (2015) reported that several fungal species may inhabit the core of the fruit that appears visually blemish free.…”

“…As reviewed by Kalinowska et al (2014), the concentration of individual phenolic compounds in apples depends on the cultivar, maturity of the fruit, cultivation conditions, harvest, storage and infections. Phenolic compounds have an important role as defence mechanisms against pathogens and patulin (Cushnie and Lamb 2005, Ferreyra et al 2012, Sun et al 2017, Zhong et al 2018. However, which particular pathogens induce the formation of phenolic compounds, is usually not specified.…”

Lactic Acid Bacteria as Antifungal and Anti‐Mycotoxigenic Agents: A Comprehensive Review

“…Mainly associated with fruits including grapes, pears, pineapples, peaches and remarkably apples and products thereof (Zhong, Carere, Lu, Lu, & Zhou, 2018). (Zhong et al, 2018).…”

Synthesis of triethylene tetramine–modified water‐insoluble corn flour caged in magnetic chitosan resin and its adsorption application for removal of patulin from apple juice

“…For the past few years, researchers have been exploring strategies to reduce patulin contamination in apple and apple products (Ge, Xu, Li, Peng, & Pan, 2017; Zhong, Carere, Lu, Lu, & Zhou, 2018). Different control strategies in mold elimination have been proposed, such as washing, getting rid of moldy tissue, and keeping storage conditions at appropriate temperatures and atmosphere (Salomão, Aragão, Churey, Padilla‐Zakour, & Worobo, 2009), but these strategies do not reduce toxin levels completely to safe levels.…”

“…Different control strategies in mold elimination have been proposed, such as washing, getting rid of moldy tissue, and keeping storage conditions at appropriate temperatures and atmosphere (Salomão, Aragão, Churey, Padilla‐Zakour, & Worobo, 2009), but these strategies do not reduce toxin levels completely to safe levels. Therefore, some physical or chemical methods were applied to reduce patulin in apple products, including sulfur dioxide, irradiation, active carbon, vitamins, high hydrostatic pressure, and adsorbents (Ioi et al., 2017, Zhong et al., 2018). Among them, adsorption has been of interest to the juice industry in the last few years due to its obvious advantages of high efficiency, cost effective, simple operation, and nonsecondary pollution (Gong et al., 2015; Wang, Zhang, & Liu, 2017).…”