ABSTRACT
Food has been proven to be the major source of many toxicants today (Choi et al. 2015). The presence of naturally occurring contaminants that cause severe health effects to humans and animals after chronic exposure at low concentrations is a great concern in terms of food safety. Among these toxic compounds, the presence of mycotoxins is one of the most problematic (Zhang et al. 2014). Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi that can contaminate raw materials of vegetal origin (cereals and fruits) during their growth in the field or during storage and transport. The major toxin-producing fungal species belong to the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium, and some of them can produce more than one type of toxin (Zhang et al. 2014). Mycotoxin contamination is hard to eliminate from agricultural crops, foods, and feeds. The mycotoxins are not easily detected by, for instance, a changed organoleptic characteristic in the contaminated products (Binder 2007). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that approximately 25% of global 50food production is contaminated by, at least, one mycotoxin (Heussner et al. 2006). In addition, these fungal toxins generally have high resistance to heat, and can appear in a raw material even after the producing fungi have been destroyed. Mycotoxins reach animals and humans through diet, affecting their health and causing mycotoxicosis. In some cases, acute toxic effects have been observed after ingestion of a highly contaminated product, especially in farm animals; however, in terms of human and animal health, the greatest concern is the chronic toxic effects that are generated as a result of continuous long-term exposure to low levels of these toxins. Toxic effects vary due to the different toxicological characteristics of the more than 300 known mycotoxins, including carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and less resistance to infections (Binder 2007). Thus, human exposure to mycotoxins through diet is a significant concern to public health worldwide (Zhang et al. 2014).
