Humans can be exposed to mycotoxins through the food chain. Mycotoxins are mainly found as contaminants in food and could be subsequently excreted via biological fluids such as urine or human breast milk in native or metabolised form. Since breast milk is usually supposed as the only food for new-borns, the occurrence of mycotoxins in thirty-five human milk samples was evaluated by a newly deve...

The aim of this present article is to underscore the recent evidence linking anticancer activity and free radical scavenging activity of mycotoxins and its significance in the development of newer anticancer drugs. Although acute exposure to a massive amount of mycotoxin is rare but long-term exposure/consumption of food with low levels of lipophilic mycotoxin remains problematic. The aneuploid...

Mycotoxins are pharmacologically active mold metabolites produced in a strain-specific way that elicit some complicated toxicological activities [1]. More than 300 secondary metabolites have been identified while only around 30 have true toxic properties [2]. The chemical structures of mycotoxins vary significantly, but they are low molecular mass organic compounds [3]. Mycotoxins are small and...

This application note describes the creation of an accurate mass library for mycotoxins and related metabolites and its application for the screening of mycotoxins in food. An Agilent 1290 Infinity LC coupled to an Agilent 6550 iFunnel Q-TOF LC/MS was operated in positive and negative electrospray with dual-spray Agilent Jet Stream Technology. Accurate mass spectra were acquired for a large col...

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain filamentous fungi (molds). These low molecular weight compounds (usually less than 1000 Daltons) are naturally occurring and practically unavoidable. They can enter our food chain either directly from plant-based food components contaminated with mycotoxins or by indirect contamination from the growth of toxigenic fungi on food. Myc...

Molds are filamentous (fuzzy or dusty looking) fungi that occur in many feedstuffs including roughages and concentrates. Molds can infect dairy cattle, especially during stressful periods when they are immune suppressed, causing a disease referred to as a mycosis. Molds also produce poisons called mycotoxins that affect animals when they consume mycotoxin contaminated feeds. This disorder is ca...

Introduction Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites that are naturally produced by several species of fungi on agricultural products, particularly grain-based products. Mycotoxins are chemically stable and cannot be destroyed during food processing and heat treatment. Therefore, they may occur in the field, in raw materials during storage, and in processed foods. To date, more than 300 myco...

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi that cause a toxic response when ingested by animals or man. Demand of natural fur, such as those from rabbit and chinchilla, produced under controlled conditions, has increased worldwide. The toxicogenic mycoflora contaminating feeds for these animals was enumerated and identified. Six of the major mycotoxins implicated in anim...

Mycotoxins are relatively small molecules characterized by a diversity of chemical structure and a diversity of biological activity. They are often genotypically specific for a group of species, but the same compound can also be formed by fungi belonging to different genera. Most of the mycotoxins known have been recognized as metabolic products of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium species....

The issue of moulds and, thus, contamination with mycotoxins is very topical, particularly in connexion with forages from grass stands used at the end of the growing season. Deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisins (FUM) and aflatoxins (AFL) are among the most common mycotoxins. The aim of the paper was to determine concentrations of mycotoxins in selected grasses (Lolium perenne, Fe...