The dose-related effects of citrinin (CTN) on various physiological, cytogenetic, biochemical, and anatomical parameters using Allium cepa L. bulbs as a test material were researched in the present study. The physiological parameters examinated were fresh weight, root length, root number, and germination percentage; the cytogenetic parameters were micronucleus (MN) frequency, chromosome aberration (CA), and mitotic index (MI); the biochemical parameters were catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and free proline contents. And the anatomical changes in root tip cells were investigated by cross-sections. For this aim, onion bulbs were splitted four groups as three applications and one control. The bulbs in the control group were treated with distilled water; the bulbs in the application groups were treated with 1 μM, 5 μM, and 10 μM doses of CTN for 7 days. CTN application caused a decrease in the physiological parameters compared to the control group. This treatment created an increase in the frequency of MN and CA, and a reduce in the MI. In addition, it induced a dose-dependent increase in CAT and SOD activities and MDA and proline contents compared to the control group. Moreover, after CTN application, anatomical changes such as flattened nucleus, cell wall thickening, and cell deformation were identified and it was found that these changes reached their maximum at 10 mg/L dose CTN. Concequently, CTN caused inhibitory effects and the Allium test material was found to be a useful bioindicator for monitoring these effects.

Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites of filamentous fungi; they are common contaminants in numerous foods and beverages. Cyclodextrins are ring-shaped oligosaccharides, which can form host-guest type complexes with certain mycotoxins. Insoluble beta-cyclodextrin bead polymer (BBP) extracted successfully some mycotoxins (e.g., alternariol and zearalenone) from aqueous solutions, including beverages. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to examine the ability of BBP to remove other 12 mycotoxins (including aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin M1, citrinin, dihydrocitrinone, cyclopiazonic acid, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, patulin, sterigmatocystin, zearalanone, α-zearalanol, and β-zearalanol) from different buffers (pH 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0). Our results showed that BBP can effectively extract citrinin, dihydrocitrinone, sterigmatocystin, zearalanone, α-zearalanol, and β-zearalanol at each pH tested. However, for the removal of ochratoxin A, BBP was far the most effective at pH 3.0. Based on these observations, BBP may be a suitable mycotoxin binder to extract certain mycotoxins from aqueous solutions for decontamination and/or for analytical purposes.

This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of Eugenol (EUG), an effective antioxidant phenolic compound with a radical scavenging activity against citrinin (CTN)-induced toxicity in vitro using HCT116 cells. CTN is a well-known mycotoxin found in different constituents of the food chain. This environmental contaminant produces free radicals which interacts with cellular macromolecules and produces oxidation of protein, lipid, and DNA. The cytotoxic effects were monitored by measuring cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, antioxidant enzyme activities, malondialdehyde (MDA) production, protein oxidation, and DNA fragmentation. Our results have shown that the pretreatment of HCT116 cells with EUG, 2 h prior to citrinin (CTN) exposure, significantly decreased CTN-induced cell death, inhibited ROS generation, modulated activities of both catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and reduced MDA production. Level of protein-bound sulfhydryls and DNA fragmentation were also declined as compared with CTN-treated cells. These findings suggest that EUG would be an effective protective agent against CTN-induced oxidative stress, and thereby, it may complement and add to the functions of antioxidant vitamins and enzymes as a protection against the cytotoxicity of this mycotoxin.