From Microbial Reservoirs to AI-Guided Enzyme Discovery: Advances, Challenges, and Prospects in Aflatoxin Enzymatic Degradation

Abstract

Aflatoxin contamination remains a persistent threat to food safety, and biodegradation has emerged as a targeted and environmentally compatible control strategy. Although diverse microorganisms and enzymes have been reported to degrade aflatoxin, the evidence remains scattered across strain screening, enzyme characterization, degradation-product analysis, and safety evaluation. In this review, we provided a comprehensive summary and comparison of their sources, functional components, and catalytic characteristics and examined key limitations that hinder their application including limited validation in complex food matrices, incomplete toxicological assessments of degradation byproducts, and insufficient mechanistic understanding. Meanwhile, the potential of AI-driven computational tools to accelerate the mining and engineering of AFB1-degradation enzymes was discussed. By integrating biological source analysis, enzymological evaluation, safety assessment, food-matrix validation, and computational discovery, this review provides a framework for developing safer and more scalable enzymatic strategies for aflatoxin control.