Mycotoxins along the tea supply chain: A dark side of an ancient and high valued aromatic beverage

ABSTRACTS

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is a high valued beverage worldwide since ancient times; more than three billion cups of tea are consumed each day. Leaf extracts of the plant are used for food preservation, cosmetics, and medicinal purposes. Nevertheless, tea contaminated with mycotoxins poses a serious health threat to humans. Mycotoxin production by tea fungi is induced by a variety of factors, including poor processing methods and environmental factors such as high temperature and humidity. This review summarizes the studies published to date on mycotoxin prevalence, toxicity, the effects of climate change on mycotoxin production, and the methods used to detect and decontaminate tea mycotoxins. While many investigations in this domain have been carried out on the prevalence of aflatoxins and ochratoxins in black, green, pu-erh, and herbal teas, much less information is available on zearalenone, fumonisins, and Alternaria toxins. Mycotoxins in teas were detected using several methods; the most commonly used being the High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection, followed by HPLC with tandem mass spectrometry, gas chromatography and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Further, mycotoxins decontamination methods for teas included physical, chemical, and biological methods, with physical methods being most prevalent. Finally, research gaps and future directions have also been discussed.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Camellia sinensis
• black tea
• green tea
• pu-erh tea
• herbal tea
• climate change
• toxicity
• detection methods
• decontamination methods

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Author’s contribution

AKP: Conceptualization of idea and original draft preparation, MKS: assisted in compilation of analytical methods, review and edit, ASS: Review, edit, and scientific suggestions to AKP in conceptualization of idea.

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Abhay K. Pandey is thankful for the Startup Research Grant (SRG/2021/000299) obtained from Department of Science and Technology, Science and Engineering Research Board (DST), Government of India.