Food Security and Safety Focus Area, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa.
Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa.
Toxins (Basel). 2022 Apr 29;14(5):318. doi: 10.3390/toxins14050318.
Africa is one of the regions with high mycotoxin contamination of foods and continues to record high incidences of liver cancers globally. The agricultural sector of most African countries depends largely on climate variables for crop production. Production of mycotoxins is climate-sensitive. Most stakeholders in the food production chain in Africa are not aware of the health and economic effects of consuming contaminated foods. The aim of this review is to evaluate the main factors and their degree of contribution to the high levels of mycotoxins in African foods. Thus, knowledge of the contributions of different factors responsible for high levels of these toxins will be a good starting point for the effective mitigation of mycotoxins in Africa. Google Scholar was used to conduct a systemic search. Six factors were found to be linked to high levels of mycotoxins in African foods, in varying degrees. Climate change remains the main driving factor in the production of mycotoxins. The other factors are partly man-made and can be manipulated to become a more profitable or less climate-sensitive response. Awareness of the existence of these mycotoxins and their economic as well as health consequences remains paramount. The degree of management of these factors regarding mycotoxins varies from one region of the world to another.
非洲是食物中霉菌毒素污染程度较高的地区之一,在全球范围内继续记录着较高的肝癌发病率。大多数非洲国家的农业部门在很大程度上依赖于气候变量来进行作物生产。霉菌毒素的产生对气候敏感。非洲食品生产链中的大多数利益相关者都没有意识到食用受污染食品的健康和经济影响。本综述的目的是评估主要因素及其对非洲食品中霉菌毒素含量高的程度的贡献。因此,了解导致这些毒素含量高的不同因素的贡献将是有效减轻非洲霉菌毒素的良好起点。我们使用 Google Scholar 进行了系统搜索。发现有六个因素与非洲食品中霉菌毒素含量高有关,其程度不同。气候变化仍然是霉菌毒素产生的主要驱动因素。其他因素部分是人为的,可以加以操纵,以形成更有利可图或对气候敏感度较低的反应。了解这些霉菌毒素的存在及其对经济和健康的影响仍然至关重要。这些因素在霉菌毒素管理方面的程度因世界不同地区而异。