| Summary: | Zearalenone (ZEA) is a harmful secondary fungal metabolite, produced primarily by plant pathogenic fungi mostly belonging to the genus <i>Fusarium</i>. It is involved in reproductive disorders in animals since its structure is similar to the estrogen hormone. This induces precocious pubertal changes, fertility problems, and hyper estrogenic disorders. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the ZEA removal capacity of plant-derived lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and to investigate the possible components and mechanisms involved in the removal of ZEA by physically and chemically treated plant-derived LAB. The bacterial cells were characterized using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and the analysis of zeta potential, and hydrophobic index. Results revealed that 17 out of 33 plant-derived LAB exhibited ZEA removal from liquid medium. The percentage of removal ranged from 0.5–23% and <i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i> BCC 47723, isolated from wild spider flower pickle (Pag-sian-dorng), exhibited the highest removal. The alteration of proteins on <i>L. plantarum</i> BCC 47723 structure by Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) treatment was positively affected on ZEA removal, whereas that of lipids on ZEA removal was negatively observed. Heat treatment influenced the higher ZEA adsorption. SEM images showed that the morphologies of modified bacterial cells were distinctly deformed and damaged when compared with untreated control. FTIR analysis indicated that the original functional groups, which included amide (C=O, C-N), carboxyl (C=O, C-O, O-H), methylene (C=C), and alcohol (O-H) groups, were not changed after ZEA adsorption. The zeta potential indicated that electrostatic interaction was not involved in the ZEA removal, while hydrophobicity was the main force to interact with ZEA. These findings can conclude that adsorption by hydrophobicity is the main mechanism for ZEA removal of plant-derived <i>L. plantarum</i> BCC 47723. The alteration of bacterial cell structure by heat treatment enhanced the efficiency of <i>L. plantarum</i> BCC 47723 for ZEA reduction. Its activity can be protected by the freeze-drying technique. Hence, plant-derived <i>L. plantarum</i> BCC 47723 can be considered as an organic adsorbent for ZEA reduction in food and feedstuff.
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