Mycotoxins: An Under-evaluated Risk for Human Health

Abstract

Mycotoxins are secondary toxic metabolites produced mainly by fungi belonging to the Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Alternaria, and Claviceps genera. These moulds can colonize agricultural crops and produce mycotoxins during pre- and post-harvest practices, processing, and storage. Animals fed with feed contaminated with mycotoxins may be a natural and unwanted bioenhancer way to transfer mycotoxins, eventually metabolized, to animal-derived food addressed to humans. The natural occurrence of mycotoxins, also a low concentration, in food may cause adverse health effects in humans, rarely showing acute symptoms but the chronic exposure causes problems ranging from gastrointestinal and kidney disorders to immune deficiency and to develop some types of cancers. Human exposure to mycotoxins can happen by eating directly contaminated foods or through contaminated animal products. This alternative entry of mycotoxin into the human food chain is a signal of animals fed with contaminated feed. The exposure danger to mycotoxins can be monitored by following the biotransformation product occurrence in tissues and biological fluids, and these data are needed to evaluate their potential risk for humans, in particular for weak subpopulations like babies, children, old, or pressed by food security troubles.

In this regard, the main aim of this volume is to evaluate the occurrence of mycotoxins and other contaminants in food, nutraceuticals, and biological fluids in order to ensure human safety. To guarantee effective consumer safety, reliable methods have been validated for the analysis of contaminants in various matrices. In addition, the risk associated with the assumption of contaminated food was assessed. Risk characterization is an indispensable aspect to safeguard public health, which helps to identify risks threatening consumers.