From Fungal Threat to Scientific Triumph: The Aflatoxin Challenge
You might have heard of “ aflatoxins , " often related to food poisoning. We must say, this is a real serious issue under the category of food poisoning, beginning with common indigestion symptoms, but may end up with death. So, what are aflatoxins?? Before the specific topic, let's see a much broader name, “ mycotoxin ”, the secondary fungal metabolic byproduct. According to the research findings, around 25% of global crop production is affected by mycotoxin contamination and which leads to an annual economic loss of above $900 million. The ingestion of mycotoxins is generally called mycotoxicosis , which is different from the term “mycosis” (fungal infection). Usually, filamentous fungi or microfungi are behind the mycotoxicosis, and are not similar to the macrofungal (mushroom) toxins. Among the vast variety, there are three mycotoxigenic fungal genera 1. Aspergillus 2. Fusar...