Effective UV wavelength range for increasing aflatoxins reduction and decreasing oil deterioration in contaminated peanuts

Ultra-Low-Dose UV-C Photo-stimulation Promotes Neural Stem Cells Differentiation via Presenilin 1 Mediated Notch and β-Catenin Activation

Light-based photo-stimulation has demonstrated promising effects on stem cell behavior, particularly in optimizing neurogenesis. However, the precise parameters for achieving optimal results, including the wavelengths, light intensity, radiating energy, and underlying mechanisms, remain incompletely understood. In this study, we focused on utilizing ultraviolet-C (UV-C) at a specific wavelength of 254 nm, with an ultra-low dose at intensity of 330 μW/cm2 and a total energy of 594 mJ/cm2 per day over a period of seven days, to stimulate the proliferation and differentiation of mouse neural stem cells (NSCs). The results revealed that the application of ultra-low-dose UV-C yielded the most significant effect in promoting differentiation when compared to mixed ultraviolet (UV) and ultraviolet-A (UV-A) radiation at equivalent exposure levels. The mechanism exploration elucidated the role of Presenilin 1 in mediating the activation of β-catenin and Notch 1 by the UV-C treatment, both of which are key factors facilitating NSCs proliferation and differentiation. These findings introduce a novel approach employing ultra-low-dose UV-C for specifically enhancing NSC differentiation, as well as the underlying mechanism. It would contribute valuable insights into brain stimulation and neurogenesis modulation for various diseases, offering potential therapeutic avenues for further exploration.

Recent progress of atmospheric and room-temperature plasma as a new and promising mutagenesis technology

At present, atmospheric and room-temperature plasma (ARTP) is regarded as a new and powerful mutagenesis technology with the advantages of environment-friendliness, operation under mild conditions, and fast mutagenesis speed. Compared with traditional mutagenesis strategies, ARTP is used mainly to change the structure of microbial DNA, enzymes, and proteins through a series of physical, chemical, and electromagnetic effects with the organisms, leading to nucleotide breakage, conversion or inversion, causing various DNA damages, so as to screen out the microbial mutants with better biological characteristics. As a result, in recent years, ARTP mutagenesis and the combination of ARTP with traditional mutagenesis have been widely used in microbiology, showing great potential for application. In this review, the recent progress of ARTP mutagenesis in different application fields and bottlenecks of this technology are systematically summarized, with a view to providing a theoretical basis and technical support for better application. Finally, the outlook of ARTP mutagenesis is presented, and we identify the challenges in the field of microbial mutagenesis by ARTP.

Endocrine Effect of Some Mycotoxins on Humans: A Clinical Review of the Ways to Mitigate the Action of Mycotoxins

Fungi such as Aspergillus spp. and Fusarium spp., which are commonly found in the environment, pose a serious global health problem. This study aims to present the results of epidemiological studies, including clinical cases, on the relationship between human exposure to some mycotoxins, especially zearalenone and aflatoxin, and the occurrence of reproductive disorders. In addition, examples of methods to reduce human exposure to mycotoxins are presented. In March 2023, various databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE and Web of Science) were systematically searched using Google Chrome to identify studies evaluating the association between exposure to mycotoxins and the occurrence of complications related to impaired fertility or cancer incidence. The analysed data indicate that exposure to the evaluated mycotoxins is widespread and correlates strongly with precocious puberty, reduced fertility and increased cancer incidence in women and men worldwide. There is evidence to suggest that exposure to the Aspergillus mycotoxin aflatoxin (AF) during pregnancy can impair intrauterine foetal growth, promote neonatal jaundice and cause perinatal death and preterm birth. In contrast, exposure to the Fusarium mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEA) leads to precocious sexual development, infertility, the development of malformations and the development of breast cancer. Unfortunately, the development of methods (biological, chemical or physical) to completely eliminate exposure to mycotoxins has limited practical application. The threat to human health from mycotoxins is real and further research is needed to improve our knowledge and specific public health interventions.

Efficient Inhibition of Aspergillus flavus to Reduce Aflatoxin Contamination on Peanuts over Ag-Loaded Titanium Dioxide

Peanuts are susceptible to aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus flavus. Exploring green, efficient, and economical ways to inhibit Aspergillus flavus is conducive to controlling aflatoxin contamination from the source. In this study, Ag-loaded titanium dioxide composites showed more than 90% inhibition rate against Aspergillus flavus under visible light irradiation for 15 min. More importantly, this method could also reduce the contaminated level of Aspergillus flavus to prevent aflatoxins production in peanuts, and the concentrations of aflatoxin B1, B2, and G2 were decreased by 96.02 ± 0.19%, 92.50 ± 0.45%, and 89.81 ± 0.52%, respectively. It was found that there are no obvious effects on peanut quality by evaluating the changes in acid value, peroxide value, and the content of fat, protein, polyphenols, and resveratrol after inhibition treatment. The inhibition mechanism was that these reactive species (•O2−, •OH−, h+, and e−) generated from photoreaction destroyed cell structures, then led to the reduced viability of Aspergillus flavus spores. This study provides useful information for constructing a green and efficient inhibition method for Aspergillus flavus on peanuts to control aflatoxin contamination, which is potentially applied in the field of food and agri-food preservation.

Advanced mycotoxin control and decontamination techniques in view of an increased aflatoxin risk in Europe due to climate change

Aflatoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus spp. found in staple food and feed commodities worldwide. Aflatoxins are carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic, and pose a serious threat to the health of both humans and animals. The global economy and trade are significantly affected as well. Various models and datasets related to aflatoxins in maize have been developed and used but have not yet been linked. The prevention of crop loss due to aflatoxin contamination is complex and challenging. Hence, the set-up of advanced decontamination is crucial to cope with the challenge of climate change, growing population, unstable political scenarios, and food security problems also in European countries. After harvest, decontamination methods can be applied during transport, storage, or processing, but their application for aflatoxin reduction is still limited. Therefore, this review aims to investigate the effects of environmental factors on aflatoxin production because of climate change and to critically discuss the present-day and novel decontamination techniques to unravel gaps and limitations to propose them as a tool to tackle an increased aflatoxin risk in Europe.