engleski

Mycotoxins in food - how to prevent and what to do when things go bad

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites of moulds that are unavoidable contaminants of our food. They are contaminating more than 90 % of our food at various concentrations, but mostly below regulatory limits. Their occurrence is highly linked to the weather conditions during crops growth, harvesting time and storage conditions. To be able to control the mycotoxins in our food, the above-mentioned period are crucial for minimising of the contamination. At the field, crop rotation, combined with proper agricultural techniques are necessary for minimization of mould contamination, especially during climate changing environment, where the naturally occurring microbiota is also changing, and the moulds are moving towards poles at approximate speed of 30 km / year. This is the reason why some of our crops are contaminated with yet unexpected mycotoxins in the region. In the field, also, the weather conditions are crucial during flowering of the crops, and to those we have the least effect. When extremely wet or extremely dry conditions are present during flowering, plants are very often contaminated with moulds, following high mycotoxins contamination of the crop. Harvest has to be adapted to be done during dry conditions to avoid exposure to the moisture that is one of requirements for fungal spores germination. At the end, the storage conditions have to be dry and clean, and ensure proper monitoring of those conditions. If contamination still occurs there are still several decontamination techniques available: different processing techniques – form physical chemical to biochemical methods, each more appropriate for one type of food or feed.

mycotoxins ; food safety ; climate changes ; decontamination

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