DES-Based Strategies for Agri-Food By-Product Valorization and Emerging DES–Lipase Systems for Mycotoxin Mitigation

Mycotoxins remain a major threat to food and feed safety due to their high stability and toxicity. Enzymatic degradation has emerged as a potential strategy to transform mycotoxins or reduce their measured parent concentration, while confirmation of detoxification requires identification and toxicological assessment of the resulting products. Lipases have shown potential for degrading relevant mycotoxins, including ochratoxin A (OTA), patulin, and aflatoxin M1; however, their efficiency is strongly influenced by the reaction medium, which affects enzyme stability and substrate accessibility. Recent evidence demonstrated a 94% reduction in OTA concentration using porcine pancreatic lipase in a glycerol-based DES-containing model system after 4 h, while up to approximately 93% degradation was achieved in grape pomace extract after 24 h under optimized enzyme concentrations. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have emerged as tunable solvent systems that have been widely explored as greener alternatives to conventional solvents, with particular potential to modulate lipase performance and have also been widely explored for the extraction of bioactive compounds from agri-food by-products. However, direct evidence of lipase-mediated mycotoxin degradation in DES-containing systems remains limited, and broader applications involving other mycotoxins, DES formulations, and engineered lipases remain largely unexplored. These complementary applications are particularly relevant within the circular bioeconomy, where residues such as grape pomace, apple pomace, and tomato by-products are valuable sources of phenolic compounds but may also be affected by mycotoxin contamination. Enzyme immobilization and chemical modification further offer complementary strategies to improve lipase stability, activity, and reusability in DES-containing systems. This review critically discusses the role of DESs in lipase-mediated mycotoxin degradation, their compatibility with free and immobilized or chemically modified lipases, and their application in the safe extraction and valorization of contaminated agri-food by-products. Key gaps include analytical validation and the identification and toxicological assessment of transformation products.