Identification of the Main Degradation Products of Patulin Generated Through Heat Detoxication Treatments

Sonia Collin¹, Etienne Bodart, Camille Badot, Amina Bouseta and Sabrina Nizet
Unité de Brasserie et des Industries Alimentaires, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2/Bte 7, B-1348 Louvain-la- Neuve, Belgium
¹ Corresponding author. E-mail: Sonia.collin@uclouvain.be

J. Inst. Brew. 114(2), 167–171, 2008 | VIEW ARTICLE

ABSTRACT
The chemical stability of patulin (PAT) was studied in model aqueous media at different temperatures and pH values in the presence and absence of sulfites. At pH 6, 50% was degraded within one hour at 100°C. At lower pH the detoxication efficiency was strongly reduced. The compound 3-keto-5-hydroxypentanal was shown to be the main degradation product of patulin. As the hemiacetal function has to be transformed into an aldehyde before retroaldolization and lactone hydrolysis, sulfites, as expected, improved detoxication, especially at high pH. At pH 7 in the presence of 50 ppm sulfite, PAT was completely degraded within 3 h at 25°C.

Key words:
detoxication, mycotoxin, patulin, pH, sulfites.