Evans Natasha Marie, Shao Suqin
Guelph Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Guelph, ON N1G 5C9, Canada.
Toxins (Basel). 2022 Mar 17;14(3):217. doi: 10.3390/toxins14030217.
Mycotoxins are a group of toxic secondary metabolites produced in the food chain by fungi through the infection of crops both before and after harvest. Mycotoxins are one of the most important food safety concerns due to their severe poisonous and carcinogenic effects on humans and animals upon ingestion. In the last decade, insects have received wide attention as a highly nutritious, efficient and sustainable source of animal-derived protein and caloric energy for feed and food purposes. Many insects have been used to convert food waste into animal feed. As food waste might contain mycotoxins, research has been conducted on the metabolism and detoxification of mycotoxins by edible insects. The mycotoxins that have been studied include aflatoxins, fumonisins, zearalenone (ZEN), vomitoxin or deoxynivalenol (DON), and ochratoxins (OTAs). Aflatoxin metabolism is proved through the production of hydroxylated metabolites by NADPH-dependent reductases and hydroxylases by different insects. ZEN can be metabolized into α- and β-zearalenol. Three DON metabolites, 3-, 15-acetyl-DON, and DON-3-glucoside, have been identified in the insect DON metabolites. Unfortunately, the resulting metabolites, involved enzymes, and detoxification mechanisms of OTAs and fumonisins within insects have yet to be identified. Previous studies have been focused on the insect tolerance to mycotoxins and the produced metabolites; further research needs to be conducted to understand the exact enzymes and pathways that are involved.
霉菌毒素是真菌在食物链中通过在收获前后感染农作物而产生的一组有毒次生代谢产物。霉菌毒素因其摄入后对人类和动物具有严重的毒害和致癌作用,成为食品安全领域最重要的问题之一。在过去十年中,昆虫作为一种营养丰富、高效且可持续的动物源蛋白质和热量来源,在饲料和食品领域受到了广泛关注。许多昆虫已被用于将食物垃圾转化为动物饲料。由于食物垃圾可能含有霉菌毒素,因此针对可食用昆虫对霉菌毒素的代谢和解毒作用展开了研究。已研究的霉菌毒素包括黄曲霉毒素、伏马毒素、玉米赤霉烯酮(ZEN)、呕吐毒素或脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇(DON)以及赭曲霉毒素(OTA)。不同昆虫通过依赖NADPH的还原酶和羟化酶产生羟基化代谢产物,证明了黄曲霉毒素的代谢过程。ZEN可代谢为α-和β-玉米赤霉烯醇。在昆虫对DON的代谢产物中已鉴定出三种DON代谢物,即3-、15-乙酰-DON和DON-3-葡萄糖苷。遗憾的是,昆虫体内OTA和伏马毒素的代谢产物、相关酶以及解毒机制尚未明确。以往的研究主要集中在昆虫对霉菌毒素及其产生的代谢产物的耐受性方面;还需要进一步开展研究以了解其中确切涉及的酶和途径。