Tag Archives: fungi

Apple Juice

Newly Discovered Fungus Helps Destroy Patulin Mycotoxin 

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Apple Juice

Patulin is a harmful mycotoxin produced by fungi typically found in damaged fruits, including apples, pears and grapes. Recently, researchers from Japan identified a new filamentous fungal strain that can degrade patulin by transforming it into less toxic substances, which may lead to new ways of controlling patulin toxicity in food supplies.

Patulin is produced by several types of fungi, and is toxic to humans, mammals, plants and microorganisms. Symptoms of exposure include nausea, lung congestion, ulcers, intestinal hemorrhages, and even more serious outcomes, such as DNA damage, immunosuppression, and increased cancer risk. Environments lacking proper hygienic measures during food production are more susceptible to patulin contamination as many of these fungi species tend to grow on damaged or decaying fruits, specifically apples, and can contaminate apple products, such as apple sauce, apple juice, jams and ciders.

In the recent study, the research team from Tokyo University of Science (TUS) in Japan, screened soil for microorganisms that can potentially help keep patulin toxicity in check. The team cultured microorganisms from 510 soil samples in a patulin-rich environment, looking for those that would thrive in presence of the toxin. Next, in a second screening experiment, they used high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the survivors that were most effective in degrading patulin into other less harmful chemical substances. They identified a filamentous fungal (mold) strain, Acremonium sp. or “TUS-MM1,” belonging to the genera Acremonium, that fit the bill.

Patulin graphic
The mold TUS-MM1 can degrade the patulin mycotoxin.

The team then performed various experiments to shed light on the mechanisms by which TUS-MM1 degraded patulin. This involved incubating the mold strain in a patulin-rich solution and focusing on the substances that gradually appeared both inside and outside its cells in response to patulin over time.

One important finding was that TUS-MM1 cells transformed any absorbed patulin into desoxypatulinic acid, a compound much less toxic than patulin, by adding hydrogen atoms to it. Moreover, the team found that some of the compounds secreted by TUS-MM1 cells can also transform patulin into other molecules. By mixing patulin with the extracellular secretions of TUS-MM1 cells and using HPLC, they observed various degradation products generated from patulin. Experiments on E. coli bacterium cells revealed that these products are significantly less toxic than patulin itself. Through further chemical analyses, the team showed that the main agent responsible for patulin transformation outside the cells was a thermally stable but highly reactive compound with a low molecular weight.

“Elucidating the pathways via which microorganisms can degrade patulin would be helpful not only for increasing our understanding of the underlying mechanisms in nature but also for facilitating the application of these organisms in biocontrol efforts,” said Dr. Toshiki Furuya, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Department of Applied Biological Science at TUS and co-author of the study.

Scott Pritchett

Modern Mycotoxin Testing: How Advanced Detection Solutions Help Protect Brands and Consumers

By Scott Pritchett
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Scott Pritchett

Mycotoxins are toxic compounds produced by several types of fungi. These mycotoxin-producing fungi grow on a variety of crops and foodstuffs, such as cereals, nuts, and coffee beans, contaminating up to 25% of the world’s crops every year.

In humans, ingesting even small amounts of some mycotoxins can lead to acute poisoning—research has also linked mycotoxin ingestion to long-term effects such as cancer and immune deficiency. In livestock, the situation is similar with mycotoxin exposure responsible for a greater incidence of disease, poor reproductive performance, and suboptimal milk production. With the health consequences so severe, it’s easy to see why mycotoxin contamination can harm the brand reputation of food producers and suppliers.

Mycotoxin contamination also poses a significant economic risk. The U.S. FDA estimates that mycotoxin contamination is responsible for an estimated annual crop loss of $932 million while, the Food and Agriculture Association estimates toxigenic fungi drive annual food and food product losses of ~1 billion metric tons, which includes losses due to reduced livestock productivity.

Learn more about how to prevent and detect physical and chemical contamination risks in your facility at the Food Safety Tech Hazards Series: Physical and Chemical Contamination virtual conference. Now available on demand.

To minimize the risks posed by mycotoxins, robust mycotoxin testing is essential. Through rigorous testing, food suppliers can identify and remove unsafe products in the supply chain and indicate where preventive measures may need strengthening. Global regulations permit very low maximum levels of mycotoxins in foods, and international trade regulations make testing food and animal feed for mycotoxins a critical step before export.

Mycotoxins: A Significant and Growing Analytical Challenge

Mycotoxin testing is complex. Laboratories tasked with the endeavor face several hurdles, including:

  • Varied and complex matrices. Analyzing food samples for low levels of contaminants is inherently difficult, as complex matrices contain a myriad of other compounds that can interfere with analyte detection.
  • Greater testing burden than other contaminants. For example, with pesticides, testing after crop harvest is sufficient to ensure food safety, as foodstuffs are unlikely to acquire pesticide contaminants beyond this point. However, foods can acquire mycotoxin contaminants at several points after crop harvest—for instance, during transportation and storage. Testing at multiple points in the supply chain is therefore needed, which demands testing be easy to deploy, efficient, and cost-effective.
  • New, emerging threats. Mycotoxin contamination concerns go beyond the ‘big six’ classes most commonly encountered (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, patulin, fumonisins, zearalenone, and nivalenol/deoxynivalenol). Emerging mycotoxins—lesser-known, novel mycotoxins neither routinely determined nor regulated—pose a threat to human and animal health, too. But new and emerging mycotoxins are not often reported or monitored due to limitations of current ELISA-based testing technology.
  • A warming climate. As average global temperatures rise, more regions will offer the warm, humid environments in which mycotoxin-producing fungi thrive. Some testing labs are already detecting classes of mycotoxins previously limited to other geographies. Moreover, rising temperatures may create ideal conditions for new mycotoxin-producing fungal strains and different combinations of mycotoxins. Thus, labs will increasingly need the flexibility to accommodate an expanding menu of known and unknown mycotoxin contaminants and mycotoxin combinations.
  • Broader, tighter regulations. Regulatory bodies are continually reducing the maximum permissible mycotoxin levels in food. For instance, in August 2022, the European Commission lowered the maximum levels of ochratoxin A in certain foodstuffs. Regulatory bodies will likely also expand analyte panels to accommodate new, emerging threats. Unless a laboratory’s testing equipment has sufficient sensitivity and flexibility to meet these continually changing requirements, labs may face unnecessary additional expenditure on new technologies each time regulations change.

Accordingly, to meet the needs of today while best positioning themselves for tomorrow, mycotoxin testing labs need testing methods that are highly sensitive, with the flexibility to quantify multiple known and unknown analytes in complex matrices. To meet ever-growing demand for efficiency, these methods should also be easy to use, and maximize lab productivity.

The Promise of Advanced LC-MS Solutions

Thankfully, advanced, high-throughput liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) solutions can alleviate these challenges.

For example, Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERs) sample preparation kits can accelerate and simplify sample preparation across a variety of matrices prior to LC-MS analysis, helping facilitate high-throughput multi-residue analysis. To improve analysis of low abundance analytes in complex matrices, automated solutions are available that perform analyte pre-concentration and sample clean-up online, offering analytical confidence and greater speed compared to offline methods. Similarly, robust, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra-HPLC (UHPLC) solutions can better resolve analytes in complex matrices, maximizing instrument utilization, and unlocking superior laboratory throughput.

When it comes to mass spectrometry (MS) systems, more productive, confident targeted compound quantitation is possible with advanced triple quadrupole MS (QQQ) instruments. QQQ systems offer analysts high sensitivity, selectivity, and specificity, making them ideal for the detection of multiple low-level compounds in the most challenging matrices. In addition, the fast data acquisition speeds and rapid polarity switching of these systems mean labs can greatly improve their workflow productivity. The latest QQQ systems are also easy to use, require minimal training, and facilitate streamlined method creation and optimization, enabling labs to better keep pace with changing regulations and emerging threats.

The advent of orbitrap mass spectrometry has transformed analytical testing workflows across a range of applications, including mycotoxin testing. Orbitrap mass spectrometers offer ultra-high resolution (figure 1) and accurate mass measurements, together with high dynamic range. These instruments can, therefore, better resolve the lowest-level analytes from background interferences in crowded matrices, as well as elucidate the fine isotopic structures needed for more confident analyte identification. Orbitrap instruments have significant productivity benefits too, being able to perform both quantitative and qualitative analyses of multiple analytes in a single platform, and often in a single run—all while maintaining high sensitivity.

Orbitrap curve
Figure 1: Across a broad m/z range, orbitrap mass spectrometers offer superior resolution relative to other mass spectrometry systems, such as quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) instruments.

Perhaps most important, though, is the value of orbitrap systems for unknown analysis. Orbitrap systems can generate full-scan high-resolution accurate mass data during untargeted analysis, enabling analysts to capture information from all ions in the run. When this data is compared against extensive high-resolution spectral fragmentation libraries (such as the mzCloud), labs can more easily and confidently identify novel compounds such as emerging mycotoxins. Even when no direct spectral match is available, analysts can now tap into advanced data analysis algorithms that provide the best candidate structures for unknown compounds.

Toward Multi-residue, Multi-panel Workflows

Recent studies have demonstrated the success of several advanced LC-MS and LC-MS/MS solutions and workflows for fast, economical, and highly sensitive multi-residue mycotoxin analysis. For example, one recent study looked at quantifying 48 myco- and phytotoxins (either currently regulated or under discussion for regulation in the EU) in cereal in a single analytical run. In the experiment, researchers used a UHPLC system coupled to a QQQ instrument, and cereals were extracted with acetonitrile/water, followed by evaporation and sample reconstitution.

The results demonstrated that sample preparation is simple, fast, and economical for this method. And, for all legislated mycotoxins, the limits of quantitation were lower than the maximum residue limits (MRL) established by regulations. Researchers also noted good precision and reproducibility across five replicates at the limit of detection. The authors therefore concluded that this method is suitable for the quantitation of all 11 legislated mycotoxins and 37 more that are either already legislated in feed or are prospects for further legislation.

Another study demonstrated the value of an orbitrap-based workflow for efficiently detecting a range of unknown food contaminants, including mycotoxins. In the study, researchers analyzed vegetables, fruits, nuts, and cereals, preparing samples using the Swedish ethyl acetate method (SweEt). In terms of equipment, the team used an UHPLC system connected to an orbitrap mass spectrometer, and analyzed data using a qualitative software tool. To help identify unknown compounds, the software used isotopic pattern recognition, fragments, and isotope distribution data to search spectral libraries for matches.

The results showed SweEt to be an effective generic sample preparation approach to analyze different compound classes, and the workflow enabled the team to successfully identify many unwanted contaminants, including pesticides, mycotoxins, and food additives. As a result, the researchers concluded that the method was a suitable and efficient way to find unexpected and unwanted multi-group analytes in complex food matrices. Researchers have increasingly sought such multi-group analysis methods in recent years, owing to the significant efficiency gains they can offer to analytical labs.

Meeting the Needs of Modern Mycotoxin Testing

Mycotoxin contamination in food has significant consequences for human and animal health, as well as the reputation of food producers and suppliers. But mycotoxin testing is inherently complex, and several factors make testing increasingly difficult—from emerging mycotoxin threats to tightening regulations and growing pressure for greater efficiency.

Advanced LC-MS and LC-MS/MS solutions have the potential to address these challenges and transform mycotoxin testing workflows, delivering unprecedented sensitivity, confidence, and productivity. By adopting these high throughput, high-resolution solutions, testing labs can better meet the needs of today, while optimally positioning themselves for the future. Ultimately, these advanced approaches will help ensure the safety of the global food supply, for a healthier, safer world.

Kevin Smedley, High Performance Systems
FST Soapbox

Importance of Flooring for Food Processing Plant Hygiene

By Kevin Smedley
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Kevin Smedley, High Performance Systems

Food processing is a multi-trillion dollar industry that encompasses facilities such as bakeries, meat and poultry plants, bottling lines, dairies, canneries and breweries. For all of these food processing plants a commercial flooring system is essential for maintaining a hygienic environment. Few areas of a plant provide as much opportunity for the spread of bacteria, mold, fungi and dust as the floor. Hazardous materials from a contaminated floor can easily be spread from worker’s shoes and mobile equipment. Food processing plants present a unique set of challenges that require careful consideration of floor properties and installation.

Food processing plants floors are subjected to constant, high concentrations of salt, alkaline and oil compounds that substantially degrade the floor and thereby risk food contamination and facility shutdown. These compounds can come from common food production by-products like oils, fats, dairy products, sugar solutions, blood, and natural acids or from harsh cleaners and disinfectants. Even with frequent and thorough cleaning these substances can—and will—result in microbial growth and the spread of bacteria in untreated concrete or poorly installed resinous flooring.

Food processing plant hygiene, flooring
A commercial flooring system is critical to maintaining a hygienic environment in a food processing plant. (Image courtesy of High Performance Systems)

Cleaning floors is an essential part of maintaining food processing operations to keep up with government standards. A proper floor coating is a necessity for dealing with the vigorous, harsh cleaning procedures that typically include very hot water and aggressive cleaning chemicals. Depending on the exposure to corrosive, temperature and moisture conditions a thin film coating may suffice; however, in most cases, a thick, durable floor coating is needed to endure the cleaning operations. If too thin of a coating is used the repeated barrage of high pressure, high-temperature hot water and steam will strip the floor coating. Only an experienced flooring professional can determine the proper floor coating for a facility.

In addition to the properties of the floor coating, proper installation is essential for maintaining a hygienic, safe facility. If a floor is not seamless even the best floor coatings are vulnerable to germ buildup within gaps and cracks. To prevent harmful substance accumulation, a seamless coving transition from the floor to the wall is needed. Not only does that make the floors unsanitary, but it also can spread to other parts of the facility, equipment and product. Coving also aids in the cleaning process by allowing for hosing around the sides and corners of the room where germ buildup is most common.

An often-overlooked—yet critical—aspect of floor installation is having the proper pitch to promote water drainage. Having pools of water is not only dangerous for workers but for product safety. Such an examples of this issue is the Listeria outbreak at cantaloupe producer Jensen Farms, which led to 33 fatalities, 143 hospitalized victims, and ultimately, the end of their business. In the 2011 FDA released a report that focused on “Factors Potentially Contributing to the Contamination of Fresh, Whole Cantaloupe Implicated in the Multi-State Listeria monocytogenes Foodborne Illness Outbreak”. The conclusion was reached that the leading cause of Listeria spreading was due to a poorly constructed packing facility floor that was difficult to clean and allowed water to pool. The best way to prevent a similar situation at your plant is to make sure you get an experienced flooring expert, who understands your facility’s needs, to choose a floor with the right properties and to properly install it.

Alert

Q3 Hazard Beat: Fruits & Vegetables

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Alert

The following infographic is a snapshot of the hazard trends in fruits and vegetables from Q3 2019. The information has been pulled from the HorizonScan quarterly report, which summarizes recent global adulteration trends using data gathered from more than 120 reliable sources worldwide. Over the past and next few weeks, Food Safety Tech will provide readers with hazard trends from various food categories included in this report.

Hazards, fruits, vegetables, HorizonScan
2019 Data from HorizonScan by FeraScience, Ltd.

View last week’s hazards in seafood.