Mycotoxin contamination and control strategy in human, domestic animal and poultry: A review

Md Atiqul Haque; Yihui Wang; Zhiqiang Shen; Xiaohui Li; Muhammad Kashif Saleemi; Cheng He

doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104095

Mycotoxin contamination and control strategy in human, domestic animal and poultry: A review

Microb Pathog. 2020 Feb 22:142:104095. doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104095. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Md Atiqul Haque¹, Yihui Wang², Zhiqiang Shen³, Xiaohui Li², Muhammad Kashif Saleemi⁴, Cheng He⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonoses of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary & Animal Science, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, 5200, Bangladesh.
² Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonoses of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
³ Binzhou Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine Academy of Shandong Province, Binzhou, 256600, China.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan.
⁵ Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonoses of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China. Electronic address: hecheng@cau.edu.cn.

PMID: 32097745
DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104095

Abstract

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced mainly by fungi belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, Claviceps, and Alternaria that contaminate basic food products throughout the world, where developing countries are becoming predominantly affected. Currently, more than 500 mycotoxins are reported in which the most important concern to public health and agriculture include AFB1, OTA, TCTs (especially DON, T-2, HT-2), FB1, ZEN, PAT, CT, and EAs. The presence of mycotoxin in significant quantities poses health risks varying from allergic reactions to death on both humans and animals. This review brings attention to the present status of mycotoxin contamination of food products and recommended control strategies for mycotoxin mitigation. Humans are exposed to mycotoxins directly through the consumption of contaminated foods while, indirectly through carryover of toxins and their metabolites into animal tissues, milk, meat and eggs after ingestion of contaminated feeds. Pre-harvest (field) control of mycotoxin production and post-harvest (storage) mitigation of contamination represent the most effective approach to limit mycotoxins in food and feed. Compared with chemical and physical approaches, biological detoxification methods regarding biotransformation of mycotoxins into less toxic metabolites, are generally more unique, productive and eco-friendly. Along with the biological detoxification method, genetic improvement and application of nanotechnology show tremendous potential in reducing mycotoxin production thereby improving food safety and food quality for extended shelf life. This review will primarily describe the latest developments in the formation and detoxification of the most important mycotoxins by biological degradation and other alternative approaches, thereby reducing the potential adverse effects of mycotoxins.

Keywords: Biological detoxification; Mycotoxin; Nanotechnology; Toxigenic fungus.

Publication types

Review