Detoxification of aflatoxin B1 by enzymes isolated from Armillariella tabescens

Detoxification of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) by Armillariella tabescens multienzyme, which was isolated from mycelium pellets of A. tabescens, was confirmed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and rat assay. The results of toxicology and pathology studies showed that toxicity of AFB1 was minimized after treatment with A. tabescens multienzyme. The result of the Ames test indicated that the mutagenic activity of multienzyme-treated AFB1 was greatly reduced (or inactivated) compared with that of untreated controls. TLC determinations showed that AFB1 at an initial concentration of 16 microM was completely detoxified (100%) by the fungal multienzyme. The infrared spectrum suggests that the multienzyme is responsible for opening the difuran ring of AFB1.