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Mycotoxins
Published in Brian D. Fath, Sven E. Jørgensen, Megan Cole, Managing Global Resources and Universal Processes, 2020
Crops that are contaminated by deoxynivalenol can often contain zearalenone albeit at a lower frequency. Zearalenone is more common in maize than in small grains. Zearalenone is an estrogen analogue and causes hyperestrocism in female pigs at low levels; the dietary no-effect level is less than 1 mg/kg. Cows and sheep are also sensitive to the estrogenic effects of this toxin with depressed ovulation and lower lambing percentages.[20] Non-human primates and possibly humans are also sensitive to the estrogenic effects of zearalenone.[22,23]
Principles and Applications of UV Light Technology
Published in Tatiana Koutchma, Ultraviolet Light in Food Technology, 2019
Postharvest strategies are an integral step in controlling fungi development after field crops have been harvested. Aside from severe yield losses, mycotoxigenic fungi such as Penicillium and Fusarium can produce harmful mycotoxins, including deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), and ochratoxin A (OTA). The most utilized postharvest grain treatment is drying that is high in cost and energy consuming. The use of UV-C light at 253.7 nm has shown promise as a non-ionizing postharvest strategy for the reduction of fungal and mycotoxin loads on grain surfaces. Hidaka and Kotaro Kubota (2006) have shown that an industrial UV-C unit was capable of reducing naturally occurring bacterial and fungal growth by 90% on the surface of wheat while having no impact on its ability to germinate using 195 J/cm2. Paez et al. (2011) have also shown that naturally occurring fungal mycobiota on corn kernels can be reduced using UV-C light at doses ranging from 3.3 to 19.8 J/cm2 in combination with sodium hypochlorite treatment.
Foodborne Pathogens and Nanoparticles as a Tool for Quality Assurance and Intervention of Foodborne Pathogens
Published in Moayad N. Khalaf, Michael Olegovich Smirnov, Porteen Kannan, A. K. Haghi, Environmental Technology and Engineering Techniques, 2020
Porteen Kannan, S. Wilfred Ruban, M. Nithya Quintoil
Mycotoxins are the toxic products of certain microscopic fungi which, in some circumstances, develop on or in foodstuffs of plant or animal origin. They are ubiquitous and widespread at all levels of the food chain. Hundreds of mycotoxins have been identified and are produced by some 200 varieties of fungi. In terms of their implications for human health and the economy, mycotoxins are by far the most important contaminants of the food chain. Of particular importance in current toxicological studies are the combined and possible synergistic effects that some of the mycotoxins may have on human and animal life. Some of the important mycotoxins include fumonisins, zearalenone, trichothecenes, and ochratoxins.
Zearalenone perturbs the circadian clock and inhibits testosterone synthesis in mouse Leydig cells
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 2021
Lijia Zhao, Yaoyao Xiao, Cuimei Li, Jing Zhang, Yaojia Zhang, Meina Wu, Tiantian Ma, Luda Yang, Xiaoyu Wang, Haizhen Jiang, Qian Li, Hongcong Zhao, Yiqun Wang, Aihua Wang, Yaping Jin, Huatao Chen
Zearalenone (ZEA), also known as F-2 mycotoxin, is produced by several species of Fusarium fungi (Stanciu et al. 2018). These fungi contaminate various foods and feedstuffs. Further ZEA is produced during harvest and subsequent storage at low temperatures and high humidity (Dellafiora et al. 2017). Zearalenone is metabolized not only by the liver, but also in the gastrointestinal tract tissues of various animal species (Dong et al. 2010). The structure of ZEA is similar to that of estrogen enabling it to bind to estrogen receptors and exert estrogen-like effects. Accumulating evidence indicates that ZEA and its metabolites affect mammalian reproductive capability of animals by altering the synthesis and secretion of sex hormones, including testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone (Gao et al. 2018; He et al. 2018; Liu et al. 2014; Yang et al. 2007b; Zhang et al. 2013; Zheng et al. 2019). In males, luteinizing hormone (LH), a key regulator of testosterone production in Leydig cells (LCs), signals effects through the generation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Previously, Elsasser et al. (1983) showed that LH secretion is inhibited in sheep after treatment with ZEA. In addition, ZEA decreased serum LH levels in pigs (Chen et al. 2015). Gao et al. (2018) found that when rats were fed with ZEA-contaminated (0, 5, 10 or 20 mg/kg) food during their gestation period, the serum LH levels in F1 male rats were reduced. The serum levels of testosterone were also diminished in a dose-dependent manner in mice after treatment with ZEA following intraperitoneal injection (Yang et al. 2007a). However, the question as to whether ZEA is involved in regulating the synthesis and secretion of testosterone in mouse LCs through other signaling pathways remains elusive.
Influence of Ozonation on Cereal Flour Functionality and Dough Characteristics: A Review
Published in Ozone: Science & Engineering, 2021
Rajan Sharma, Arashdeep Singh, Savita Sharma
Ozone treatment against mycotoxins was first explored few decades ago by Dwarakanath et al. (1968) in peanut and cottonseed meal reporting reduction in aflatoxin content by 78–91%. Research in this decade showed that ozone has a higher lethal activity reported as 85–95% reduction of aflatoxins B1 and B2 in wheat grains (Savi et al. 2014), 68–86% reduction of ochratoxin and zearalenone in high moisture maize (Qi et al. 2016), 64–83% degradation of deoxynivalenol in wheat (Sun et al. 2016; Trombete et al. 2017; Wang et al. 2017), 48% aflatoxins reduction (Trombete et al. 2017) and 32–61% reduction of zearalenone and deoxynivalenol in wheat bran (Alexandre et al. 2018) by employing different concentration of ozone in gaseous or aqueous phase for different time intervals. Maize is highly prone to zearalenone production by Fusarium species when stored at 25–28 °C. Alexandre et al. (2019) studied impact of ozone treatment on zearalenone in whole maize flour with 51.5 mg/L of ozone, achieving a reduction of 62.3% in mycotoxin level after 60 minutes. Mutagenic and toxigenic sensitivity of mycotoxins to ozone is mainly attributed to the presence of double bond (C8-C9) at terminal furan ring (Torlak et al. 2016). During the exposure, Criegee mechanism occurs in mycotoxins in which electrophilic attack by ozone results in the formation of ozonides through 1,3 cyclo addition of ozone to C8-C9 double bond and later various carbonyl compounds such as organic acids, ketones, and aldehydes are produced through rearrangement into monozonide which is highly unstable compound (Inan, Pala, and Doymaz 2007; Samarajeewa et al. 1990; Young, Zhu, and Zhou 2006). Moisture plays a significant role in mycotoxins degradation by ozone because contact between ozone and grain is increased when it is soluble in water and more reactive ions are generated which promote mycotoxins degradation (Diao et al. 2013; Tiwari et al. 2010).