Li Fang, Wang Meiyan, Xu Jinjie, Liu Wenjie, Yu Jianna, Li Wenshan, Liu Wen, Liu Yuan, Jing Guoxing, Xie Wanying, Jiang Yueming
School of Chemical Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, P. R. China.
Institution of Edible Mushrooms, Yichun Vocational Technical College, Yichun, P. R. China.
Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2025 Jul;24(4):e70233. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.70233.
Mycotoxins are a class of biological contaminants that pose significant threats to food safety, leading to substantial food waste and significant economic losses. Among these, zearalenone (ZEN), a specific mycotoxin produced by Fusarium species during the infection of grains, is particularly concerning due to its reproductive toxicity, digestive toxicity, hepatotoxicity, and immunotoxicity in various organisms. Although numerous methods for degrading ZEN have been developed, challenges still remain in removing effectively ZEN from food. Enzymatic degradation offers dual advantages of biosafety and targeted efficiency, positioning it as a sustainable alternative to conventional ZEN detoxification methods. This review systematically examines ZEN contamination in grains, evaluates the physicochemical properties and toxicological effects of ZEN and its derivatives, and analyzes the ZEN-degrading enzyme families to provide their structural characteristics, catalytic performance, and degradation mechanisms. The review highlights the transformative potential of enzyme engineering technologies, including protein engineering assisted with computational design, enzyme immobilization, nanozymes, and fusion proteins, to enhance the performance of ZEN-degrading enzymes and explore their prospective applications in ensuring food and feed safety.
霉菌毒素是一类对食品安全构成重大威胁的生物污染物，会导致大量的食物浪费和巨大的经济损失。其中，玉米赤霉烯酮（ZEN）是镰刀菌属在感染谷物过程中产生的一种特定霉菌毒素，因其对多种生物体具有生殖毒性、消化毒性、肝毒性和免疫毒性而备受关注。尽管已经开发出许多降解ZEN的方法，但在从食物中有效去除ZEN方面仍然存在挑战。酶促降解具有生物安全性和靶向效率的双重优势，使其成为传统ZEN解毒方法的可持续替代方案。本文系统地研究了谷物中的ZEN污染情况，评估了ZEN及其衍生物的物理化学性质和毒理学效应，并分析了ZEN降解酶家族，以阐述其结构特征、催化性能和降解机制。本文强调了酶工程技术的变革潜力，包括借助计算设计的蛋白质工程、酶固定化、纳米酶和融合蛋白，以提高ZEN降解酶的性能，并探索它们在确保食品和饲料安全方面的潜在应用。
