Recent developments of mycotoxin-degrading enzymes: identification, preparation and application

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi during their growth. They not only seriously affect the yield of food crops but also pose a threat to human and animal health. Physical and chemical methods have been widely used to reduce the production and accumulation of mycotoxins in the field or after harvest, but these methods have difficulty in completely removing mycotoxins while keeping the nutrients at the same time. Biodegradation methods using isolated enzymes have shown superiority and potential for modest reaction conditions, high degradation efficiency and degradation products with low toxicity. Therefore, the occurrence, chemical structures, and toxicology of six prevalent mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, aflatoxin, patulin, fumonisin, and ochratoxin) were described in this manuscript. The identification and application of mycotoxin-degrading enzymes were thoroughly reviewed. It is believed that in the near future, mycotoxin-degrading enzymes are expected to be commercially developed and used in the feed and food industries.