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Contamination of milk with aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is related to the feed for milking cows, which is contaminated with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Feed AFB1 converts to AFM1 by dehydrogenation. In this study, we used Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from raw milk and its products and commercial or laboratory-made beta-glucan isolated from yeast and oats to establish how these mycotoxin binders affect the quality of sterilised, long-life, 2.8% fat milk contaminated with 0.05 mg/L of AFM1. We took the content of fats, carbohydrates, sugars (lactose), and proteins, and the calculated energy values for quality parameters. The mean energy value of the milk treated with AFM1 binders ranged between 85.7% and 101.5% of the control, untreated milk, whereas the fat content ranged between 65.3% and 100.7%. The protein content ranged between 64.4% and 101.1%, carbohydrates between 83.1% and 103%, and lactose between 76.3% and 100.8%. The results indicated a good possibility of binding of AFM1 with Lactobacilus plantarum bacteria, and 0.01% of β-glucan from oats was 0.005% of β-glucan isolated from yeast from Saccharomyces cerevisiae 20. These findings suggest that milk treated with these binders can be processed further and that its treatment significantly reduces the risk of exposure through diet and the related economic damage.

Yeasts have an important role in the biotechnological production of ethanol, as well as in the production of fermented food and beverages. Mycotoxins, secondary metabolites of molds, can contaminate a large number of foods due to their ubiquity and therefore present great risk to human health. Other than their toxicological effects on humans, mycotoxins can have negative effects on various properties of yeasts and consequently limit their use in industry. Therefore, the aim of this work was to determine the effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), ochratoxin A (OTA) and zearalenone (ZEA) on metabolic activity and biomass growth of selected yeasts S. cerevisiae, S. uvarum, C. utilis and K. marxianus. The presence of fermentation products was determined with high-performance liquid chromatography after 24h of incubation. In the early stage, all mycotoxin-exposed yeasts had lower metabolic activity as well as biomass growth when compared to control. However, concentrations of metabolic products and biomass reached the control levels by the end of the process, with the exception of C. utilis exposed to zearalenone (ZEA). Adaptive response to exposed mycotoxins suggests that certain yeasts could be used to control mycotoxin concentrations in the production of fermented food and beverages.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites toxic for humans and animals produced by some fungal species during their growth and, generally, released into the growing media. Mycotoxigenic fungi can colonize a wide spectrum of food and feedstuff and commodities like cereal seeds, fruits, meat and meat products. The toxic effects depend on a type of mycotoxin and vary from proven carcinogenic effects to cytotoxicity. Due to their high toxicity, only a dozen of mycotoxins are highly considered by legislators and scientist all over the world and their presence in food and feed is limited by legislations of almost all countries. In traditional agriculture chemicals, such as antifungals and antioxidants, are widely used to control mycotoxin contamination of food and feed. This strategy could present severe environmental problems as well as a selection of resistant strains. The research of strategies and methods in mycotoxin control with lower environmental impact has been ongoing for many years. Some more environmental friendly methods to control the presence of mycotoxins in food and feed, like the use of antagonistic strains or the use of plant and mushroom extracts, are reviewed in this work.