FUNGI THAT PRODUCE lYIYCOTOXINS: CONDITIONS A'\D OCCURRENCE

Zearalenone T-2 toxin Table I. Mycotoxins currently of most concern never be fully understood since laboratory studies, where interacting variables are of necessity limited, can only approximate the infinite number of variables manifested in nature, e.g., the chemical composition of the commodity, the complex interactions of the microbial flora, oxygen availability, presence or absence of herbicides and pesticides, insects, irrigation, weather conditions. age, sex, health of the host, host species, presence of multiple toxins and synergism between toxins. There is even some uncertainty as to which fungal m"tabolites can be considered to be mycotoxins. For simplicity of discussion, any mold metabolite, regardless of concen· tration, that results in an undesirable effect in a biological host will be considered to be a mycotoxin. Hence, the range of fungi that can be implicated becomes almost limitless. But again, for simplicity, we will consider only those fungi and substances indicated in mammalian mycotoxicoses.