## 3 Patulin Control Methods
### During apple harvest processing and storage  
Apples are typically harvested and processed, and apples found to be unfit for marketing as top quality edible retail apples are stored in controlled atmosphere, refrigerated environments for anywhere up to around 12 months when the next harvest comes in. Measures taken to prevent patulin synthesis during preproduction are based upon fruit quality and facility sanitation measures. The quality of fruit resulting from harvesting is the first step in controlling patulin levels. With the highest quality, hand-picked fruit being used for direct retail sale, processed apple products usually are produced from mechanical harvest, windfalls, insect-damaged, or culled fruit. Bruises, skin breaks and other physical damage within these apples provide a perfect entry for _P. expansum_ and other patulin-producing fungal species into the fruit [205]. Studies have examined the effect of fruit quality and harvest method on the patulin content of the resultant juices. In a study, patulin was undetectable \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l} \hline
**Country** & **Type of wine** & **OTA level** & **Reference** \\  & & **(range ng/litrc)** & **(198)** \\ \hline Australia & Red, White & \(<\)0.05-0.62 & [198] \\ \hline Austria & Red, White & \(<\)0.01-0.02 & [199] \\ \hline Germany & White & \(<\)0.004-0.006 & [209] \\ \hline Hungary & Red, White & \(<\)0.024 & [207] \\ \hline Morocco & White, Rose, Red & 0.028-0.24 & [160] \\ \hline Italy & Red & \(<\)0.001-3.177 & [202] \\ \hline Spain & Red, White & \(<\)0.05-4.24 & [203] \\ \hline South Europe & White & 0.01-1.36 & [204] \\ \hline Taiwan & Red & \(<\)0.72-0.5 & [140] \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: OTA levels reported in wine in different countries around the world in cider from seven cultivars when fruit was tree-picked cider, whereas it was detected between 40.2 and 374 \(\mu\)g/L in cider from four cultivars when fruit was ground-harvested cider [206]. Many of the patulin control measures suggested by the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme are based upon the careful selection of fruits as good agricultural practice [207]. Standard post-harvest processing, including washing, sorting and packaging, poses a second means to control both fungal and mycotoxin contamination. High-pressure wash with water has been shown to reduce patulin levels in apple juice by 21% to 54% [5]. Another study showed that washing ground-harvested apples resulted in 10% to 100% patulin reduction, depending on the initial patulin level and the type of washing treatment [208]. However, these same washes can also serve as a source of contamination. Contaminated bins, storage rooms, drencher washes, drying tissues after apple wash and other steps within the processing cycle can all provide a source of fungal inoculum. Prevention methods aimed at cleaning and sterilizing storage and processing activities routinely and between seasons are being mapped out, but have not yet been fully developed. Plus the older complicated design of many packing-houses and processing equipment inhibits the ability to effectively sanitize. Even if effective strategies are successfully mapped out, the inherent variability in apple handling facilities will require customization of sanitation methods for each operation [44], posing a considerable cost to producers. Apple storage poses yet a third means of fungal control and contamination. Conflicting evidence exists as to whether standard controlled-atmosphere, refrigerated brage is sufficient to prevent apple soft rot [33, 209, 210]. Blue-rot infections at stem-set, which was classically associated with wounded fruit, began to appear with increasing frequency in non-wounded fruit in the mid-1990s. Long-term, controlled atmosphere storage has now been shown to allow the slow growth and stem-based invasion of fungi into apples [44]. Furthermore, these facilities are not available to all producers, forcing many to the dark storage which can drastically increase patulin production.