Fungi and mycotoxins in food

BUENO, D. J.; SORIA, M. C.; GONZALEZ, H. H. L.; SAMPIETRO, D. A.; FEDERICO, F. J.; SILVA, J. O.

Multidisciplinary Approaches on Food Science and Nutrition for the XXI Century

Transworld Research Network

Lugar: Kerala; Año: 2011; p. 215 - 243

Mycotoxins are a relatively large, diverse group of naturally occurring fungal toxins, many of which have been strongly implicated as chemical agents of toxic disease in humans and animals. The total number of mycotoxins is unknown, but toxic metabolites of fungi potentially could number in the thousands. The number of mycotoxins currently known to be involved in disease is considerably less. Most of mycotoxins that are considered important are produced primarily by species belonging to three genera of fungi, namely, Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium. The major classes of these toxins are aflatoxins, trichothecenes, fumonisins, zearalenone, ochratoxins. Others include ergot alkaloids as major classes of mycotoxin, which are produced by several species of Claviceps. The occurrence of aflatoxins in food has been fairly well studied; however, for the remainder of the more common mycotoxins, the occurrence is less known. We reviewed the toxigenic fungi and major classes of mycotoxins, factors affecting fungi growth and mycotoxin production, the effect of mycotoxins in human health and different aspects related to fungi detection and mycotoxin determination. The possibilities of preventing mycotoxin formation and detoxification of contaminated food and the regulations for mycotoxins have also been reviewed. Mycotoxin contaminants are unavoidable and therefore small amounts of these toxins may be legally permitted as long as these amounts are known to be safe for human and animal health.