A new physical and biological strategy to reduce the content of zearalenone in infected wheat kernels: the effect of cold needle perforation, microorganisms, and purified enzyme.

With the aim of reintroducing wheat grains naturally contaminated with mycotoxins into the food value chain, a decontamination strategy was developed in this study. For this purpose, in a first step, the whole wheat kernels were pre-treated using cold needle perforation. The pore size was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and the accessibility of enzymes and microorganisms determined using fluorescent markers in the size range of enzymes (5 nm) and microorganisms (10 µm), and fluorescent microscopy. The perforated wheat grains, as well as non-perforated grains as controls, were then incubated with selected microorganisms (Bacillus megaterium Myk145 and B. licheniformis MA572) or with the enzyme ZHD518. The two bacilli strains were not able to significantly reduce the amount of zearalenone (ZEA), neither in the perforated nor in the non-perforated wheat kernels in comparison with the controls. In contrast, the enzyme ZHD518 significantly reduced the initial concentration of ZEA in the perforated and non-perforated wheat kernels in comparison with controls. Moreover, in vitro incubation of ZHD518 with ZEA showed the presence of two non-estrogenic degradation products of ZEA: hydrolysed zearalenone (HZEA) and decarboxylated hydrolysed ZEA (DHZEA). In addition, the physical pre-treatment led to a reduction in detectable mycotoxin contents in a subset of samples. Overall, this study emphasizes the promising potential of combining physical pre-treatment approaches with biological decontamination solutions in order to address the associated problem of mycotoxin contamination and food waste reduction.

Multiple Techno-Functional Characteristics of Leuconostoc and Their Potential in Sourdough Fermentations.

In this study, the potential of Leuconostoc as non-conventional sourdough starter cultures was investigated. A screening for antifungal activities of 99 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains revealed high suppression of bakery-relevant moulds in nine strains of Leuconostoc with activities against Penicillium sp., Aspergillus sp., and Cladosporium sp. Mannitol production was determined in 49 Leuconostoc strains with >30 g/L mannitol in fructose (50 g/L)-enriched MRS. Further, exopolysaccharides (EPS) production was qualitatively determined on sucrose (40 g/L)-enriched MRS agar and revealed 59 EPS positive Leuconostoc strains that harboured dextransucrase genes, as confirmed by PCR. Four multifunctional Lc. citreum strains (DCM49, DCM65, MA079, and MA113) were finally applied in lab-scale sourdough fermentations (30 °C, 24 h). Lc. citreum was confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS up to 9 log CFU/g and pH dropped to 4.0 and TTA increased to 12.4. Antifungal compounds such as acetic acid, phenyllactic and hydroxyphenyllactic acids were determined up to 1.7 mg/g, 2.1 µg/g, and 1.3 µg/g, respectively, mannitol up to 8.6 mg/g, and EPS up to 0.62 g/100 g. Due to the observed multifunctionalities and the competitiveness in the natural flour microbiota present in sourdoughs, non-conventional LAB genera such as Leuconostoc seem promising for application in sourdough-based bakery products.