Trichothecenes

CECILIA A. MOURELOS; ISMAEL MALBRÁN; GLADYS A. LORI; JUAN R. GIROTTI

Handbook of Foodborne Diseases

CRC Press

Lugar: Boca Raton, Florida; Año: 2018; p. 979 - 988

Trichothecenes are among the most important mycotoxins to which humans are exposed. Only a few of the over 150 representatives described in this group have been found as contaminants of food and among them DON, produced by plant pathogenic species of the genus Fusarium, stands out. Even though this trichothecene is less toxic than its group A counterparts, its ubiquitous presence as a contaminant of the most relevant cereal grains and products has risen concern. As a result, developed countries have established more restrictive regulations and controls of food quality regarding mycotoxins than developing countries, which results in a much greater risk of exposure for the population of the latter. However, regulatory limits may not be sufficient to prevent human exposure to trichothecenes as recent research has found that more than 90% of the population of developed countries is exposed to DON, in some cases with contaminations that exceed the PMTDI for this trichothecene. Hence, despite the fact that complete elimination of trichothecenes from human diet is an unrealistic goal, there is an urge to develop prevention strategies aimed at reducing their presence in food fundamentally by managing the impact of Fusarium-induced plant diseases in the field. In this regard, equipping crops with DON detoxification activities via genetic engineering shows potential, even though preliminary attempts obtained only moderate success.