Biological Control of Patulin by Antagonistic Yeast: A case study and possible model

Abstract

The occurrence of patulin in fresh apples and apple products is a great burden from health, safety and economic perspectives. Attempts to prevent patulin accumulation in fruits might lead to the excessive use of fungicides. Therefore, guaranteeing the safety of apple foods is crucial for the international apple industry. Recently, literature revealed that application of antagonistic yeasts and other BCAs have been able to disrupt the process of fungal infection and patulin production in apples. Although, over the years the effect of interaction between BCAs and fungi on patulin production has been reported, the exact mechanism(s) of their action remain unclear. Here, the review focused on toxicology and occurrence of PAT; research advances made over the past few years on the interaction between antagonistic yeast, fruits and patulin-producing fungi; the prevalence of patulin in apple fruits and products and the implications of synthetic-fungicide applications. In addition, attention was focused on the mechanism(s) and the enhancement of the biocontrol efficacy of antagonistic for patulin control.

• Antagonistic yeasts
• apples
• biocontrol
• degradation
• patulin

Acknowledgements

The authors thank some of the experts in this field for sharing their valuable knowledge over the years.

Declaration of interest

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31271967), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (20123227110015), the Technology Support Plan of Jiangsu Province (BE2014372), the Technology Support Plan of Zhenjiang (NY2013004) and the Six Talents Peak Project of Jiangsu Province (2011-NY-044).