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Published on: October 11, 2022
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Bioaccessibility of paralytic shellfish toxins in different cooked shellfish using the simulated digestive model
Jiangbing Qiu1, Lei Zhang2, Yadong Cao2
1College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266100, China.
Food Chemistry
|May 11, 2022
Summary
Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) remain highly bioaccessible (80-95%) in cooked shellfish, despite cooking reducing PST content. This highlights the need to consider bioaccessibility for accurate human health risk assessment.
Area of Science:
- Food safety
- Toxicology
- Analytical chemistry
Background:
- Current regulatory limits for paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) do not account for their bioaccessibility in seafood during human digestion.
- Assessing the actual risk of PSTs requires understanding how much toxin becomes available for absorption in the human gut.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the bioaccessibility of PSTs in shellfish cooked using various methods.
- To determine the impact of simulated digestion on PSTs in different shellfish matrices.
Main Methods:
- A static in vitro human digestion model was employed to simulate gastrointestinal digestion.
- The study assessed PST bioaccessibility across different cooking methods, digestion times, and solid-to-liquid ratios.
- PST transformation and degradation during digestion were also investigated.
Main Results:
- Cooking reduced PST content in shellfish by 45% to 88%.
- PST bioaccessibility remained high (80% to 95%) across four shellfish types, irrespective of cooking method.
- Digestive enzymes significantly facilitated PST dissolution, while digestion time and S/L ratios had minimal impact.
Conclusions:
- Despite cooking reducing overall PST levels, their high bioaccessibility necessitates a re-evaluation of current food safety regulations.
- Simulated digestion revealed PST transformation and degradation, suggesting complex interactions within the gastrointestinal environment.
- This research provides a basis for more objective human health risk assessments concerning PST exposure from shellfish consumption.
