SciEPublish

Is Nitric Oxide the Missing Link Between Food Matrix Chemistry and Fungal Toxigenesis?

lssue 2, Volume 1
Download PDF
Cite This Article
Contents

Review Open Access

Is Nitric Oxide the Missing Link Between Food Matrix Chemistry and Fungal Toxigenesis?

Humana Azhar † Bingqian Hu † Benni Ma † Fenqin Song † Yuxuan Fang Dandan Zhu Ebrahim Abdella Ziyi Zhu Jun Tian * Kunlong Yang *

Author Information
Other Information
JSNU-UWM International Cooperation Joint Research Laboratory of Food Safety and Microbial Functional Genomics, School of Life Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.

Received: 18 August 2026 Revised: 16 September 2026 Accepted: 12 October 2026 Published: 26 October 2026

Creative Commons

© 2026 The authors. This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Views:67
Downloads:28
Fungal Res. 2026, 1(2), 10008; DOI: 10.70322/fungalres.2026.10008
ABSTRACT: Nitric oxide (NO) is increasingly recognized as a central regulator of redox processes in food systems, yet its chemical behavior and biological functions remain fragmented across food chemistry, fungal biology, and preservation research. In particular, how food matrix-dependent NO chemistry is translated into fungal metabolic reprogramming and mycotoxin biosynthesis has not been systematically integrated. This review provides a critical synthesis of current knowledge by linking NO chemistry in food matrices with fungal redox signaling and toxigenesis. We discuss how NO concentration, oxygen availability, and matrix composition govern the formation and transformation of reactive nitrogen species, thereby modulating protein S-nitrosylation, chromatin remodeling, stress adaptation, and secondary metabolism in food-associated fungi. We further evaluate emerging NO-based preservation strategies, including gaseous fumigation, NO donors, and engineered delivery systems, along with their practical limitations in stability, diffusion, nitrosamine formation, and regulatory considerations. Finally, we identify major knowledge gaps and propose a matrix-dependent redox framework to guide future studies on NO-mediated fungal control and the rational design of next-generation food preservation technologies.
Keywords: Nitric oxide; Mycotoxins; Redox signaling; Protein S-nitrosylation; Food safety
TOP