Phenolic compounds as natural microbial toxin detoxifying agents

Despite the abundance of promising studies, developments, and improvements about the elimination of micro-bial toxins from food matrices, they are still considered as one of the major food safety problems due to the lack of their complete avoidance even today. Every year, many crops and foodstuffs have to be discarded due to unconstrained contamination and/or production of microbial toxins. Furthermore, the difficulty for the detection of toxin presence and determination of its level in foods may lead to acute or chronic health problems in many individuals. On the other hand, phenolic compounds might be considered as microbial toxin detoxification agents because of their inhibition effect on the toxin synthesis of microorganisms or exhibiting protective effects against varying damaging mechanisms caused by toxins. In this study, the effect of phenolic compounds on the synthesis of bacterial toxins and mycotoxins is comprehensively reviewed. The potential curing effect of phenolic compounds against toxin-induced damages has also been discussed. Consequently, phenolic compounds are indicated as promising, and considerable natural preservatives against toxin damages and their detoxification potentials are pronounced.

Automated summary

Despite numerous studies and improvements, eliminating microbial toxins from food remains a significant food safety challenge. Untreated contamination often leads to discarded crops and food items, while difficulty in toxin detection and determination can result in health problems. Phenolic compounds, however, show promise as detoxifying agents, inhibiting toxin synthesis and protecting against toxin-induced damage. This study comprehensively reviews the effects of phenolic compounds on bacterial and mycotoxin synthesis and discusses their potential use as natural preservatives against toxin damage.