Patulin is a mycotoxin produced by several Penicillium, Aspergillus and Byssochlamys species. Patulin is a highly toxic compound which has shown to be mutagenic, carcinogenic and teratogenic in experiments with animals. It has often been found in apples and apple products. Patulin is easily transfered into apple juice during processing due to its high solubility in water. This mycotoxin is very stable to heat in acidic medium as in apple juice. Thus, patulin content of apple juice is an indicator of the quality of the apples used to juice production. Many methods have been developed for the patulin determination mainly based on liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and use of HPLC for detection. It is important to show the need of legislation that imposes patulin limits in foods in Brazil. The objectives of this review are to describe the main patulin characteristics, occurrence, toxicological aspects, methods developed for patulin detection and control during the stages of apple and juice production.
patulin; toxicity; analytical methods; occurrence; control
