Researchers discover how fungus helps destroy harmful food toxin

Last Updated06/09/2023

Recently, a research team from the Tokyo University of Science (TUS) in Japan discovered a fungus that helps destroy a harmful food toxin, Patulin.

The team identified a filamentous fungal (mold) strain, Acremonium sp. or "TUS-MM1," belonging to the genera Acremonium.
They 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.
They found that TUS-MM1 cells transformed any absorbed patulin into desoxypatulinic acid by adding hydrogen atoms to it.
- This compound is much less toxic than patulin.
Some of the compounds secreted by TUS-MM1 cells can transform patulin into other molecules too.

Patulin (C7H6O4) is a toxic mycotoxin produced by several types of fungi.
It is harmful to a wide range of creatures, including humans, mammals, plants, and microbes.
It can grow on damaged or decaying fruits, especially apples.

It is responsible for a wide variety of health hazards.
- It includes nausea, lung congestion, ulcers, intestinal haemorrhages,
- It also includes even more serious outcomes such as DNA damage, immunosuppression and increased cancer risk.

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