Abstract
Mycotoxins are toxic compounds (secondary metabolites) produced by various saprophytic living mold fungi belonging to genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, Claviceps, Alternaria, and others. They are formed and accumulated as a result from proliferation of molds on a variety of food substrates under favorable environmental conditions, including a suitable temperature and humidity. The term ‘mycotoxsin’ is a combination from the Greek word mykos - fungus, mold, and the Latin word ‘toxicum’ - poison. For the first time, the term mycotoxins was used in England in 1960 after detecting of high mortality in young turkeys in a turkey farm close to London ('Turkey-X disease'). After the tests that were carried out, high contents of aflatoxins were found out in the peanut butter originating from Brazil that was added to the feed. (Blount, W. P. 1961, Allcroft et al., 1961). By now, the number of the mycotoxins known is over 400, and generally are identified more than 30 000 different metabolites produced by molds.
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