Chemical regulation of mycotoxin biosynthesis

Abstract

Mycotoxins—metabolites of microscopic mold fungi widely spread in nature—are the most hazard� ous pollutants of agricultural raw materials and food� stuff. They are highly toxic and cause severe intoxica� tions in humans and animals; some of them are car� cinogens. The stability of mycotoxins determines the necessity of stringent control of their content in agri� cultural and food products (maximum allowable con� centrations of different mycotoxins are on the order of 0.1–20 mg/kg). The economic damage caused by mycotoxins reaches several billions of dollars every year. It is known that various natural and synthetic com� pounds (ginseng saponins, citrus essential oil, sulfa� mides, organic acids, mercaptoethanol, etc.) can decrease or increase mycotoxin production; however, the causes underlying their activity remain obscure [1]. It was shown that fungicidal activity of some nat� ural phenolic compounds may combine with the abil� ity to suppress toxigenesis [2]. The known method of detoxication of fodders and foodstuff by treatment with ammonia at elevated pressure and temperature has obvious limitations [3]. Thus, the possibility to selectively affect mycotoxin production remains a topical problem. One of its pos� →→ → → →→