FOOD MYCOTOXINS

摘要

Mycotoxins are metabolic products of fungi, capable of producing acute or chronic effects (eg. carcinogenic) on animals and probably on man at the level of exposure. Toxic syndromes resulting from the intake of mycotoxins by man and animals are knownas mycotoxicoses (DGHS, 2005).Aflatoxins are considered to be the most common and widely known mycotoxin contaminant. They are produced naturally by fungi or moulds. Aspergillus flavus is a common mould found in tropical and subtropical countries and has been found to cause aflatoxin contamination (Yuan et al, 2004). Most aflatoxins are stable compounds that are not destroyed during food processing or cooking. So the chances of them entering in to public health through food chain are high.