Formation of patulin-glutathione conjugates induced by pulsed light: A tentative strategy for patulin degradation in apple juices

•Degradation of patulin in apple juices was achieved by pulsed light processing.•Supplementation with glutathione and ferrous ions enhanced patulin degradation.•Glutathione-patulin adducts were identified as patulin degradation products. Patulin is a toxic mycotoxin usually associated with apple products. Due to its unhealthy effects for humans, its content is regulated by the food safety authorities. The removal or degradation of this mycotoxin in contaminated apple juices has been studied with different approaches with uneven effectiveness. However, a strategy based on the chemical reaction between patulin and glutathione (GSH), in order to generate the conjugates that are formed during cell detoxification process, is an innovative approach yet to be evaluated. In this work, the formation of patulin-GSH conjugates activated by the application of pulsed light treatments and catalyzed by Fe2+ ions was evaluated. The study of patulin degradation and effect of the GSH/Fe2+ molar ratio showed that a molar ratio of 5 allows an adequate catalytic effect of the metal ions. In addition, mono-substituted patulin-glutathione adducts were identified as the main type of generated conjugates.