a Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, School of Medicine , University of Namibia , Windhoek, Namibia. P. Bag 13301, Windhoek , Namibia.
b Department of Microbiology , Babcock University, Ilishan Remo , Ogun State , Nigeria.
Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2019;59(1):43-58. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2017.1357003. Epub 2017 Sep 25.
Major staple foods in Southern Africa are prone to mycotoxin contamination, posing health risks to consumers and consequent economic losses. Regional climatic zones favor the growth of one or more main mycotoxin producing fungi, Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium. Aflatoxin contamination is mainly reported in maize, peanuts and their products, fumonisin contamination in maize and maize products and patulin in apple juice. Lack of awareness of occurrence and risks of mycotoxins, poor agricultural practices and undiversified diets predispose populations to dietary mycotoxin exposure. Due to a scarcity of reports in Southern Africa, reviews on mycotoxin contamination of foods in Africa have mainly focused on Central, Eastern and Western Africa. However, over the last decade, a substantial number of reports of dietary mycotoxins in South Africa have been documented, with fewer reports documented in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Despite the reported high dietary levels of mycotoxins, legislation for their control is absent in most countries in the region. This review presents an up-to-date documentation of the epidemiology of mycotoxins in agricultural food commodities and discusses the implications on public health, current and recommended mitigation strategies, legislation, and challenges of mycotoxin research in Southern Africa.
南非的主要主食容易受到霉菌毒素污染，对消费者的健康构成威胁，并导致经济损失。区域气候带有利于一种或多种主要产霉菌毒素的真菌（如曲霉属、镰刀菌属和青霉属）的生长。黄曲霉毒素污染主要发生在玉米、花生及其制品中，伏马菌素污染主要发生在玉米及其制品中，棒曲霉素污染主要发生在苹果汁中。由于人们对霉菌毒素的发生和风险缺乏认识，农业实践不佳以及饮食结构单一，使人们容易受到饮食中霉菌毒素的暴露。由于南非的报告很少，因此对非洲食品中霉菌毒素污染的综述主要集中在中非、东非和西非。然而，在过去十年中，南非有大量关于饮食中霉菌毒素的报告，博茨瓦纳、莱索托、马拉维、莫桑比克、赞比亚和津巴布韦的报告较少。尽管报告的饮食中霉菌毒素含量很高，但该地区大多数国家都没有控制这些毒素的法规。本综述介绍了南非农业食品中霉菌毒素的最新流行病学资料，并讨论了其对公共健康的影响、当前和建议的缓解策略、法规，以及南非霉菌毒素研究的挑战。
