Limosilactobacillus fermentum LAB212 effectively ameliorates toxigenicity of aflatoxin

Aflatoxin, the most potent carcinogenic compound produced by Aspergillus flavus, is a common food contaminant. Scientists have developed several methods for removing this toxin along with its source, but could not succeed. Due to its bio-protective nature, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were introduced in this field, but very few LAB strains have the potential to remove toxins. The present study was conducted using Limosilactobacillus fermentum LAB212 (Accession No. MZ359838) having GRAS status for amelioration of toxigenic potential of aflatoxin and our results show a complete detoxification of the toxin. MTT assay of mouse macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7) revealed a dose-dependent cell death after aflatoxin treatment and IC50 value of toxin was found to be 500 µg/ml, whereas no cell death was found in LAB212 treated aflatoxin and chloroformic extract of LAB212 treated cells separately. Further, western blot analysis confirmed that aflatoxin triggers caspase-mediated intrinsic pathway of apoptosis in mouse macrophage cell at one-third of IC50 dose. Both in vitro and bio-safety assessment tests indicate that the application of LAB212 could efficiently detoxify aflatoxin and can be used as a bio-preservative agent.