Guest guest Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 What is aflotoxin? Aflatoxin is produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus. Aflatoxin is a potent liver toxin and known to cause cancer in animals. Aflatoxins have received greater attention than any other mycotoxins because of their demonstrated potent carcinogenic effect in susceptible laboratory animals and their acute toxicological effects in humans. The toxic or carcinogenic effects of aflatoxin have been demonstrated experimentally in a wide variety of domestic and experimental animals and in human beings who inadvertently consumed contaminated corn, peanuts, or peanut meal. Field outbreaks of diseases have been observed in turkeys, ducks, chickens, swine, cattle, dogs, and trout. Aflatoxin has been implicated in primary liver cancer in human beings. Evidence of acute aflatoxicosis in humans has been reported from many parts of the world, namely the Third World Countries, like Taiwan, Ouganda, India, and many others. The syndrome is characterized by vomiting, abdominal pain, pulmonary edema, convulsions, coma, and death with cerebral edema and fatty involvement of the liver, kidneys, and heart. The occurence of aflatoxins is influenced by certain environmental factors; hence the extent of contamination will vary with geographic location, agricultural and agronomic practices, and the susceptibility of commodities to fungal invasion during preharvest , storage, and/or processing periods. http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/imported-food/testing/mycotoxins.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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