Enzyme-assisted patulin detoxification: Recent applications and perspectives

Patulin (PAT) is a hazardous Penicillium mycotoxin frequently found in fruits and fruit-derived products. The frequent occurrence of PAT contamination is severely detrimental to the profitability of the fruit-processing industry and poses risks to human health. The utilization of enzyme treatment has emerged as a highly effective approach for detoxifying fruit juices while having a low impact on their quality. The overview of current enzyme-based biodetoxifiers and their prospective applications in the industry will offer insight into designing well-established strategies to mitigate PAT threats. Focusing on the application of enzyme-based detoxifiers, the progress made in employing microbial enzymes and their counterparts in biodegrading PAT into less toxic derivatives is summarized. Strategies aimed at promoting the efficiency of PAT detoxification by identifying key enzymes in microbial strains, tunable adjusting the parameters of biodegradation reactions, and regulating protein immobilization protocols are discussed. Identifying PAT-degrading derivatives and evaluating the variation of fruit juice's key parameters following enzymatic detoxification are highlighted. Suggestions are also proposed for advancing enzymatic biodetoxifiers to address the challenges of their use in industrial settings. Enzyme-assisted PAT detoxification treatments offer great benefits in converting parent PAT into low-toxic metabolites in terms of effectiveness, specificity, moderate reaction conditions, “greenness”, biosafety, and minimal effect on the quality of fruit juices. Meanwhile, the practical implications of enzymatic detoxifiers are anticipated to be expanded by the advances in omics analysis techniques, protein engineering tools, and enzyme immobilization protocols.