Abstract
Medicinal herbs have been increasingly used for therapeutic purposes against a diverse range of human diseases worldwide. Moreover, the health benefits of spices have been extensively recognized in recent studies. However, inevitable contaminants, including mycotoxins, in medicinal herbs and spices can cause serious problems for humans in spite of their health benefits. Along with the different nation-based occurrences of mycotoxins, the ultimate exposure and toxicities can be diversely influenced by the endogenous food components in different commodities of the medicinal herbs and spices. The phytochemicals in these food stuffs can influence mold growth, mycotoxin production and biological action of the mycotoxins in exposed crops, as well as in animal and human bodies. The present review focuses on the occurrence of mycotoxins in medicinal herbs and spices and the biological interaction between mold, mycotoxin and herbal components. These networks will provide insights into the methods of mycotoxin reduction and toxicological risk assessment of mycotoxin-contaminated medicinal food components in the environment and biological organisms.
Highlights
Herbal medicine has been increasingly used for therapeutic purposes against a diverse range of human diseases worldwide
Since it is not easy to completely eliminate or prevent mycotoxin contamination during pre- and post-harvest stages, active strategies for reducing fungal growth and mycotoxin production are important for minimizing the exposure and toxicity to humans and animals
In addition to the regulatory actions of these endogenous components on fungal growth and mycotoxin production, these antagonizing components when mixed with mycotoxins would potentially reduce the risk of toxicity to exposed humans and animals
Summary
Herbal medicine has been increasingly used for therapeutic purposes against a diverse range of human diseases worldwide. Contaminated chemicals in herbal medicines produce severe problems [1,2] that have seriously affected the value of herbal products and damaged human health. Poor storage and damage from insects or harvest processing make them more susceptible to mycotoxin contamination [6]. The present review addresses the occurrence of mycotoxins in medicinal herbs and spices and the biological interaction between mold, mycotoxin and herbal components to get better exposure and toxicity assessments of the mycotoxin mixed with the health-promoting natural components
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