RESEARCH ARTICLE


Ochratoxin A Removal by Lactobacillus Plantarum V22 in Synthetic Substrates



Moncalvo A.1, Dordoni R.1, Silva A.1, Fumi M.D.1, Di Piazza S.2, Spigno G.1, *
1 DiSTAS Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
2 Laboratory of Mycology, Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Europa 26, I, 16136 Genova, Italy


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Creative Commons License
© 2018 Moncalvo A. et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the DiSTAS Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy; Tel: +39 0523 599181; E-mail: giorgia.spigno@unicatt.it


Abstract

Background:

Ochratoxin A is a nephrotoxin which may occur in wines characterised by higher pH than the average. In the last decades the mechanisms responsible for ochratoxin A reduction by lactic acid bacteria have been investigated and identified as mainly cell walls adsorption and / or enzymatic conversion to ochratoxin-α, a non-toxic metabolite. Since lactic acid bacteria are involved in the malolactic fermentation during the wine-making process, selected starter cultures could be exploited to guarantee safe ochratoxin A level in wines also from contaminated grapes. A lactic acid bacteria strain (Lactobacillus plantarum V22) was previously selected for its ability of both degrading ochratoxin A and carrying out malolactic fermentation at high pH.

Objective:

This study was aimed at assessing if the selected L. plantarum strain, can reduce ochratoxin A because it can use it as a carbon source.

Methods:

L. plantarum V22 was grown in the presence of ochratoxin A in two different synthetic substrates, with or without malic acid, monitoring the reduction of ochratoxin A and the presence of ochratoxin α as an indicator for a toxin enzymatic hydrolysis. The presence of residual not hydrolysed ochratoxin A bound to the bacteria cell walls was also evaluated to quantify the ochratoxin A removal due to simple adsorption.

Result:

A significant reduction of 19.5 ± 2.0% in ochratoxin A concentration was observed only in the presence of malic acid. The quantified fraction of ochratoxin A adsorbed on cell walls was irrelevant and the metabolite ochratoxin α could not be detected.

Conclusion:

There is a possibility that L. plantarum V22 can degrade ochratoxin A through a not yet identified metabolic pathway.

Keywords: Bio-decontamination, Lactobacillus plantarum, Malolactic fermentation, Ochratoxin A, Wine, Synthetic Substrates.