According to the proposed definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics must be alive and abundant once ingested. However, during recent years, new definitions are added to the probiotic terminology such as ‘paraprobiotics’ (dead/inactive cells of probiotics) and ‘postbiotics’ (healthful metabolites of probiotics), because findings have shown that dead cells (intact or ruptured) could also show significant health impacts on human. However, mentioned terms are not accurate and impressive enough to reflect the intended meanings regarding all states of probiotic benefits and it seems that a disturbance and confusion in probiotic glossary has been occurred. As a result, a new terminology based on a new efficient approach and conceptualization is needed for a global agreement and usage. In the present paper, we are honored to propose such terminology to provide mentioned comprehensive approach and terminology for all aspects of probiotic benefits. We are proposing three main classes of probiotic including ‘true probiotic’ (TP) referring to viable and active probiotic cell, ‘pseudo-probiotic’ (PP) referring to viable and inactive cell, in the forms of vegetative or spore (PPV or PPS) and ‘ghost probiotic’ (GP) referring to dead/nonviable cell, in the forms of intact or ruptured (GPI or GPR). Each of these classes are classified into two groups based on their site of action/impact: internal (in vivo) or external (in vitro).

Probiotic: conceptualization from a new approach

Fungal contamination of food and animal feed, especially by mycotoxigenic fungi, is not only a global food quality concern for food manufacturers, but it also poses serious health concerns because of the production of a variety of mycotoxins, some of which present considerable food safety challenges. In today's mega-scale food and feed productions, which involve a number of processing steps and the use of a variety of ingredients, fungal contamination is regarded as unavoidable, even good manufacturing practices are followed. Chemical preservatives, to some extent, are successful in retarding microbial growth and achieving considerably longer shelf-life. However, the increasing demand for clean label products requires manufacturers to find natural alternatives to replace chemically derived ingredients to guarantee the clean label. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), with the status generally recognized as safe (GRAS), are apprehended as an apt choice to be used as natural preservatives in food and animal feed to control fungal growth and subsequent mycotoxin production. LAB species produce a vast spectrum of antifungal metabolites to inhibit fungal growth; and also have the capacity to adsorb, degrade, or detoxify fungal mycotoxins including ochratoxins, aflatoxins, and Fusarium toxins. The potential of many LAB species to circumvent spoilage associated with fungi has been exploited in a variety of human food and animal feed stuff. This review provides the most recent updates on the ability of LAB to serve as antifungal and anti-mycotoxigenic agents. In addition, some recent trends of the use of LAB as biopreservative agents against fungal growth and mycotoxin production are highlighted.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1541-4337.12481

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

Mycotoxins are fungal natural products that are toxic to vertebrate animals including humans. Microbes have been identified that enzymatically convert aflatoxin, zearalenone, ochratoxin, patulin, fumonisin, deoxynivalenol, and T-2 toxin to less toxic products. Mycotoxin-degrading fungi and bacteria have been isolated from agricultural soil, infested plant material, and animal digestive tracts. Biotransformation reactions include acetylation, glucosylation, ring cleavage, hydrolysis, deamination, and decarboxylation. Microbial mycotoxin degrading enzymes can be used as feed additives or to decontaminate agricultural commodities. Some detoxification genes have been expressed in plants to limit the pre-harvest mycotoxin production and to protect crop plants from the phytotoxic effects of mycotoxins. Toxin-deficient mutants may be useful in assessing the role of mycotoxins in the ecology of the microorganisms.

Microbial detoxification of mycotoxins.

The aim of the following research was to determine the detoxification properties of probiotic Lactobacillus sp. bacteria (12 strains) and S. cerevisiae yeast (6 strains) towards mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin B1, deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, T-2 toxin and zearalenone, which pose as frequent feed contamination. The experiment involved analysing changes in concentration of mycotoxins in PBS solutions, after 6, 12 and 24 h of incubation with monocultures of tested microorganisms, measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). We found that all strains detoxified the mycotoxins, with the highest reduction in concentration observed for the fumonisin B1 and B2 mixture, ranging between 62 and 77% for bacterial strains and 67–74% for yeast. By contrast, deoxynivalenol was the most resistant mycotoxin: its concentration was reduced by 19–39% by Lactobacillus sp. strains and 22–43% by yeast after 24 h of incubation. High detoxification rates for aflatoxin B1, T-2 toxin and zearalenone were also observed, with concentration reduced on average by 60%, 61% and 57% by Lactobacillus, respectively, and 65%, 69% and 52% by yeast, respectively. The greatest extent of reduction in the concentration for all mycotoxins was observed after 6 h of incubation; however, a decrease in concentration was noted even after 24 h of incubation. Thus, the tested microorganisms can potentially be used as additives to decrease the concentrations of toxins in animal feed.

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In Vitro Detoxification of Aflatoxin B1, Deoxynivalenol, Fumonisins, T-2 Toxin and Zearalenone by Probiotic Bacteria from Genus Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Yeast.

Kinetics and metabolism of the Fusarium toxin deoxynivalenol in farm animals: Consequences for diagnosis of exposure and intoxication and carry over

Development and application of a method for the analysis of two trichothecenes: deoxynivalenol and T-2 toxin in meat in China by HPLC-MS/MS.

Five strains of lactic acid bacteria were tested for their ability to remove deoxynivalenol (DON) and T-2 toxin from MRS broth. The ability of Lactobacillus plantarum strain 102 (LP102) was the strongest among 5 strains after incubation at 37°C for 72 h. The mode of removal was physical binding, rather than biotransformation. The abilities were not significantly different between when removing single toxin and when removing mixed toxins by viable cells of LP102. DON and T-2 toxin released from LP102 viable cell-toxin complexes were 28.22±1.55 and 35.42±2.02% of total bound toxins respectively after 3 times of wash with posphate buffered saline, respectively, those were 4.59±0.86 and 5.59±1.47% after incubation with simulated gastric fluid (SGF) at 37oC for 4 h, and 6.86±0.81 and 9.04±1.13% after incubation with simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) at 37oC for 4 h, respectively.

Jun Tang

Papers

Development and application of a method for the analysis of two trichothecenes: deoxynivalenol and T-2 toxin in meat in China by HPLC-MS/MS.

In vitro removal of deoxynivalenol and T-2 toxin by lactic acid bacteria