Alternative patulin pathway unproven

Abstract

[Excerpt] We read with interest in your journal that Penicillium expansum strains S3, S31 and S87 ( Rharmitt et al., 2016) were considered negative for possession of the isoepoxydon dehydrogenase (idh) gene for patulin (PAT) production and positive for PAT production. This led to speculation that an alternative pathway was involved in patulin production. However, the authors did not provide the diode array (DA) UV spectra of the HPLC peaks assigned to PAT, which assist in confirming its identification. UV spectra could usefully be provided in papers when DA analysis has been performed especially for unusual results such as these: At least a statement to say whether the spectra were identical, or not, to the PAT standard is required. [...]