Aims The aim of this study was to evaluate the elimination of patulin (PAT) by Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 from artificially contaminated apple juice and its dependence on prebiotic, citric acid and ascorbic acid content. Methods and Results A central composite design was used for studying each of the three factors at five levels to find the optimum concentrations. The results showed that inserting 2 center dot 3% (w/v) fructooligosaccharide, 213 mg l(-1) ascorbic acid and 1 center dot 4 g l(-1) citric acid to apple juice with inoculating 3 center dot 6 x 10(11) CFU per ml, L. plantarum improved the efficiency of PAT removal to 95 center dot 91% during 6 weeks cold storage. SDS-PAGE of cell surface proteins of probiotics revealed that surface layer proteins have an important role in PAT removal from apple juice. No significant difference was observed in the flavour and colour of the optimized synbiotic apple juice and in the control sample until 3 weeks of cold storage. Conclusion Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 is capable of PAT removal from artificially contaminated synbiotic apple juice. Significance and Impact of the Study Synbiotic apple juice artificially contaminated with PAT will be safe for consumers after the first day of probiotic inoculation; and surface layer proteins of probiotic cells are responsible for PAT removal.