Current Status of Mycotoxin Contamination of Food Commodities in Zimbabwe
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Date
2018-05-03
Authors
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Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Agricultural products, especially cereal grains, serve as staple foods in sub-Saharan Africa.
However, climatic conditions in this region can lead to contamination of these commodities by
moulds, with subsequent production of mycotoxins posing health risks to both humans and animals.
There is limited documentation on the occurrence of mycotoxins in sub-Saharan African countries,
leading to the exposure of their populations to a wide variety of mycotoxins through consumption of
contaminated foods. This review aims at highlighting the current status of mycotoxin contamination
of food products in Zimbabwe and recommended strategies of reducing this problem. Zimbabwe is
one of the African countries with very little information with regards to mycotoxin contamination of
its food commodities, both on the market and at household levels. Even though evidence of multitoxin
occurrence in some food commodities such as maize and other staple foods exist, available published
research focuses only on Aspergillus and Fusarium mycotoxins, namely aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol
(DON), trichothecenes, fumonisins, and zearalenone (ZEA). Occurrence of mycotoxins in the food
chain has been mainly associated with poor agricultural practices. Analysis of mycotoxins has
been done mainly using chromatographic and immunological methods. Zimbabwe has adopted
European standards, but the legislation is quite flexible, with testing for mycotoxin contamination in
food commodities being done voluntarily or upon request. Therefore, the country needs to tighten
its legislation as well as adopt stricter standards that will improve the food safety and security of
the masses.
Description
Open access journal article
Keywords
Mycotoxins, Legislation, Zimbabwe, Standards, Analysis
Citation
Nleya, N , Modupeade,C.A and Mwanza, M. (2018).Current Status of Mycotoxin Contamination of Food Commodities in Zimbabwe. Toxins, 10 (89), p 1-12.