Journal: Environmental Contaminants Reviews (ECR)
Author: Emanuel Joel Lao

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Doi:10.26480/ecr.02.2020.53.61

ABSTRACT
Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites of economic importance on yield and quality of crops, whereby under favourable humidity and temperature can invade feed and food chains. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates at least 25% of all crops in the world being annually affected by mycotoxins contamination. The mycotoxins groups of great concern include aflatoxin, zearalenone, fumonisins, ochratoxin, deoxynivalenol, ergot alkaloids, and moniliformin. With their toxicity, there are intense health threats to farm animals that can range from acute symptoms to life-threatening consequences including overall impairment of health and performance. The severity of the toxicity is influenced by one or a combination of factors like levels of mycotoxins ingested, exposure duration, type of animals, their breed, age, health status, diseases, and temperature. The detoxification against mycotoxicity has been implemented by pre-harvest cultural practices but also post-harvest by employing several biological, physical and chemical strategies with varying levels of effectiveness. The control of fungal growth and hence mycotoxins production is essential for achieving maximum animal performance but also important for a livestock keeper’s welfare and markets for livestock products.

KEYWORDS
Mycotoxicity, Animal performance, Cereals, Animal Feed, Detoxification