Mycotoxins in the food chain

Mycotoxins, Natural Contaminants in the Food Chain

Mycotoxins in the food chain: human health implications.

Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites that can be produced in crops and other food commodities both pre- and post-harvest. When ingested, mycotoxins may cause a mycotoxicosis which can result in an acute or chronic disease episode. Chronic conditions have a much greater impact, numerically, on human health globally. Reduced growth and development, immunosuppression and cancer are chronic ...

Post-harvest control strategies: minimizing mycotoxins in the food chain.

Contamination of cereal commodities by moulds and mycotoxins results in dry matter, quality, and nutritional losses and represents a significant hazard to the food chain. Most grain is harvested, dried and then stored on farm or in silos for medium/long term storage. Cereal quality is influenced by a range of interacting abiotic and biotic factors. In the so-called stored grain ecosystem, facto...

Mycotoxins in Food

The term mycotoxin was used for the first time in 1961 in the aftermath of a veterinary crisis in England, during which thousands of animals died. The disease was linked to a peanut meal, incorporated in the diet, contaminated with a toxin produced by the filamentous fungus Aspergillus flavus (Bennet & Klich, 2003; Richard, 2007). In general, mycotoxins are low-molecular-weight compounds that a...

10 Mycotoxins in Food