Modified mycotoxins: A new challenge?

H. U. Humpf, Michael Rychlik, Benedikt Cramer

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of filamentous fungi, which are able to contaminate food and feed worldwide. As mycotoxins are toxic to humans and animals, their presence in food and feed may pose a potential health risk. Besides their occurrence as parent compounds in food and feed, mycotoxins can also be modified in various chemical and/or biochemical reactions leading to changes in their chemical structure. Such modified mycotoxins can be formed either during biotransformation by microorganisms, infested plants or the mammalian organism or by chemical reactions e.g. during food processing. As modified mycotoxins are in many cases not detectable with routine analytical methods their occurrence might lead to an underestimation of the potential health risk of mycotoxins for humans or animals. Currently there are many open questions and for this reason research activities dealing with the occurrence, analysis, formation and toxicity of modified mycotoxins have to be intensified in the near future.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEncyclopedia of Food Chemistry
PublisherElsevier
Pages393-400
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9780128140451
ISBN (Print)9780128140260
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2018

Keywords

  • Food processing
  • Fungi
  • HPLC-MS/MS
  • Hidden mycotoxins
  • Masked mycotoxins
  • Modified mycotoxins
  • Mycotoxins
  • Plant metabolism
  • Toxicity

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