Fungal contamination and mycotoxins associated with sorghum crop: its relevance today

ASTORECA ANDREA; LUCIA G. EMATEGUY; ALCONADA TERESA

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PATHOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2019

0929-1873

Sorghum grain is the fifth most produced cereal in the world. The dietary ingestion of sorghum along with other cereals isa way to take advantage of the grain´s numerous benefits for human health. However, sorghum is now threatened by several fungal diseases that reduced crop yields and quality withsubstantial economic losses. Numerous fungal genera have beenassociated with the contamination of sorghum grains collected from different countries around the world, including the mainmycotoxigenic genera. The main fungi that infect sorghum grainsbelong to Aspergillus and Fusarium genera, associated with theproduction of aflatoxins, fumonisins, zeralenone and deoxynivalenol,being the aflatoxins the main risk in this crop. Sorghum, unlike other cereals, does not yet have legislation that regulates the maximum content of mycotoxins in grains for its commercialization.As mycotoxins in food and feed are one of the main foodsafety problems worldwide, this work provides an in depth examination into the occurrence of mycoflora andmycotoxins in sorghum. The current data compilationhighlights the imperative need for sorghum-producingcountries to strengthen surveillance and increase graininspections to ensure the safety of this crop for humanconsumption as well as the need to establish regulationsfor mycotoxins or groups of mycotoxins in sorghum.