Extensive multi-mycotoxin contamination threatens the agro-food system, mushrooms with their high biodiversity represent an underexploited agricultural resource possessing excellent enzymatic potential for mycotoxin degradation. This study evaluated the simultaneous degradation of aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ), ochratoxin A (OTA), deoxynivalenol (DON), and zearalenone (ZEN) by crude enzyme extracts from four mushrooms: Lentinus edodes, Stropharia rugosoannulata, Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus citrinopileatus. Key operational parameters were optimized, revealing that oscillation extraction (2500 rpm) significantly enhanced activity, improving degradation rates by 15–70% across different mushroom-mycotoxin combinations. Optimal incubation conditions were identified as 28°C and pH 7-8. Degradation efficiencies varied by mushroom species, with P. ostreatus extract achieving up to 98.6% OTA degradation within 48 h, followed by ZEN (up to 74%), AFB 1 (up to 61%), and DON (up to 49%). In silico analyses elucidated the molecular basis of these observations, revealing a complex structure-activity relationship: strong predicted binding affinity correlated with high degradation rates for some enzyme-mycotoxin pairs, while for other, efficient degradation likely involved factors beyond strong initial binding. Docking confirmed the recalcitrance of DON due to poor enzyme fit. This integrated study provides a practical framework for optimizing mushroom-based bioremediation and delivers novel mechanistic insights, positioning mushroom enzymatic consortia as a promising multi-target solution for combating complex mycotoxin contamination.
Gao et al. (2026) studied this question.