Detoxification of aflatoxin B₁ and patulin by Enterococcus faecium strains

Aim of the present study was to investigate the detoxification of aflatoxin B₁ and patulin from aqueous solution by probiotic culture of Enterococcus faecium M74 and commercial culture of E. faecium EF031. The effect of the bacterial viability, incubation time and pH of the medium on the binding ability was tested. Also, binding stability was determined by washing the bacteria-mycotoxin complexes with phosphate buffer saline. Both M74 and EF031 strains have the ability to remove aflatoxin B₁ and patulin. While M74 removes 19.3 to 30.5% of aflatoxin B₁ and 15.8 to 41.6% of patulin, EF031 removes 23.4 to 37.5% of aflatoxin B₁ and 19.5 to 45.3% of patulin throughout a 48h incubation period. The removal of aflatoxin B₁ and patulin was highest at pH 7.0 and 4.0, respectively. The stability of the aflatoxin B₁ and patulin complexes formed with the bacterial strains was found to be high. The viability of the bacteria did not have any significant effect on the detoxification of aflatoxin B₁ and patulin. Detoxification properties of E. faecium could represent new strategies for a possible application in the human diet and animal feed.