Abstract
In the early 1960s the discovery of aflatoxins began when a total of 100,000 turkey poults died by hitherto unknown turkey “X” disease in England. The disease was associated with Brazilian groundnut meal affected by Aspergillus flavus. The toxin was named Aspergillus flavus toxin—aflatoxin. From the point of view of agriculture, aflatoxins show the utmost importance. Until now, a total of 20 aflatoxins have been described, with B1, B2, G1, and G2 aflatoxins being the most significant. Contamination by aflatoxins is a global health problem. Aflatoxins pose acutely toxic, teratogenic, immunosuppressive, carcinogenic, and teratogenic effects. Besides food insecurity and human health, aflatoxins affect humanity at different levels, such as social, economical, and political. Great emphasis is placed on aflatoxin mitigation using biocontrol methods. Thus, this review is focused on aflatoxins in terms of historical development, the principal milestones of aflatoxin research, and recent data on their toxicity and different ways of mitigation.
Highlights
In 2020, it was 60 years since the discovery of aflatoxins (AFs)
A total of 100,000 turkeys died of so-called turkey “X” disease after being fed with contaminated Brazilian groundnut meal on a poultry farm in London [5]
Occurring AFs (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2) act as strong carcinogens, they are assigned into Group 1 “carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) [84,105]
Summary
In 2020, it was 60 years since the discovery of aflatoxins (AFs). AFs began the “second mycotoxicology era” that built on the “previous mycotoxicology era”, e.g., ergotism, acute cardiac beriberi, alimentary toxic aleukia, stachybotriotoxicosis, “mouldy corn toxicosis”— equine leucoencephalomalacia [1,2,3,4].
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