TOXIGENIC FUNGI AND MYCOTOXINS: FUTURE CHALLENGES IN HUMAN AND ANIMAL HEALTH

Food contamination is common during the production, distribution and consumption of processed and agricultural commodities all over the world. Knowledge of the mycobiota in crops and food is essential for understanding and prevention of spoilage. In addition to possible spoilage, the growth of filamentous fungi in food can result in the production of mycotoxins and other secondary metabolites, which may impact human and animal health. Therefore, among the food safety issues, the occurrence of fungal species able to produce toxic metabolites on the agro-food products has acquired great relevance (1). The production of mycotoxins is commonly species-specific, but it also influenced by other factors, like substrate, genetic variation, temperature, water activity etc. The knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that regulate these interactions remains very limited, however its understanding is fundamental to determine health risks associated with mold-spoiled foods and beverages. Mycotoxins are produced by a wide variety of molds, mainly Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium. In general, five mycotoxins are the most significant agriculturally and have a worldwide distribution: aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, ochratoxin A, and zearalenone. In addition, T-2 and HT-2 toxins can be a problem in cool temperate and generally wet areas, and Patulin is receiving increasing attention (2). Studies on toxigenic molds and its biodiversity have become highly relevant, due to the increased awareness of mycotoxins impact on human and animal health, the public concern for food safety and wastage, as well as the effects of climate change, which generate new combinations mycotoxins/host plants/geographical areas. Economic losses due to mycotoxins are high in both domestic and international trades. Also costs because affection of human and animal health are relevant and observed both in developed and developing Countries. Climate change also influence the physiology of the crops and the biodiversity of the fungi, and are modifying the risk maps of mycotoxin contamination. In this respect, recent advances confirm the importance of providing provisional models for mycotoxin occurrence in relation to climate change (3). In this context some important future challenges are in progress :i) impact reduction of fungi in staple food/feed chains; ii) new methodologies for detection and quantification; iii) new ecophysiology data in the context of climate change scenarios; iv) development of novel prevention strategies at different stages of the food and feed chains. Finally, over the past 50 years, diets in all countries have converged on a few sources of dietary starch, increasing the risk of exposure to mycotoxins, that can be evaluated by monitoring biological fluids such as blood and urine. The health risk from multi-mycotoxin exposure is still unclear since the additives and/or synergistic effects of mycotoxins have been poorly investigated. Nevertheless, the growing interest in understanding the combined effect of mycotoxin mixtures, will improve the current risk assessment capability at worldwide level.