The Fate of Mycotoxins During the Processing of Wheat for Human Consumption

Abstract

Mycotoxins are a potential health threat in cereals including wheat. In the European Union (EU), mycotoxin maximum levels are laid down for cereal raw materials and final food products. For wheat and wheat-based products, the EU maximum levels apply to deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone, aflatoxins, and ochratoxin A. This review provides a comprehensive overview on the different mycotoxins and their legal limits and on how processing of wheat can affect such contaminants, from raw material to highly processed final products, based on relevant scientific studies published in the literature. The potential compliance with EU maximum levels is discussed. Of the four mycotoxins regulated in wheat-based foods in the EU, most data are available for DON, whereas aflatoxins were rarely studied in the processing of wheat. Furthermore, available data on the effect of processing are outlined for mycotoxins not regulated by EU law-including modified and emerging mycotoxins-and which cover DON derivatives (DON-3-glucoside, monoacetyl-DONs, norDONs, deepoxy-DON), nivalenol, T-2 and HT-2 toxins, enniatins, beauvericin, moniliformin, and fumonisins. The processing steps addressed in this review cover primary processing (premilling and milling operations) and secondary processing procedures (such as fermentation and thermal treatments). A special focus is on the production of baked goods, and processing factors for DON in wheat bread production were estimated. For wheat milling products derived from the endosperm and for white bread, compliance with legal requirements seems to be mostly achievable when applying good practices. In the case of wholemeal products, bran-enriched products, or high-cereal low-moisture bakery products, this appears to be challenging and improved technology and/or selection of high-quality raw materials would be required.

Occurrence and preventive strategies to control mycotoxins in cereal‐based food

“…In general, fungi is usually colonized in outer layers of grains than that of inner tissues (Thammawong et al., 2011; Tibola, Fernandes, Guarienti, & Nicolau, 2015). In addition, the different efficacy of mycotoxin inhibitory activities in the fraction of grains by nature might also be attributed to this effect (Schaarschmidt & Fauhl‐Hassek, 2018). However, the percentage reduction of mycotoxin content through milling varies depending on many factors.…”

“…In general, the breadmaking involves two essential stages, that is, yeast‐mediated dough fermentation and baking. Depending on the mycotoxin type and the parameters employed during breadmaking process (e.g., flour, yeast, fermentation and baking times, and temperature), the fate of mycotoxin shows distinct behaviors (Schaarschmidt & Fauhl‐Hassek, 2018). Among all discussed common mycotoxins, DON is the most detected mycotoxin in wheat, the core breadmaking ingredient.…”

Effect of debranning process on deoxynivalenol content in whole‐wheat flours

“…Usually, the outer layers (bran) of the wheat grain contain higher levels of Fusarium mycotoxins (Savi et al, 2016;Tibola et al, 2016Tibola et al, , 2015. However, a correlation between the DON content and the ash content, as a marker for bran particles, was not found (Ríos et al, 2009;Schaarschmidt, & Fauhl-Hassek, 2018).…”

Lactic Acid Bacteria as Antifungal and Anti‐Mycotoxigenic Agents: A Comprehensive Review

“…Out of all these toxins, T-2 toxin (A type) is considered as the most toxic in nature. T-2 toxin has been reported in cereals including oat, wheat, and maize (Schaarschmidt & Fauhl-Hassek, 2018) and baby formula milk (Ojuri et al, 2018;Ul Hassan et al, 2018) throughout the world. There are only a few studies on the ability of LAB strains to eliminate trichothecene mycotoxins, including T2/HT-2 toxins from cereal products and synthetic media.…”