Q. Explain diffrent type of Mycotoxins?
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by molds on foodstuffs that cause illness or death when ingested by man or animals. The primary metabolites are those that are essential for growth whereas secondary metabolites are formed during the end of the exponential growth phase and have no apparent significance to the producing organism relative to growth. The mycotoxins commonly encountered in food are around one million times less toxic than most lethal of the botulism toxin. But long term chronic toxicity is of special concern because several of the mold metabolites are carcinogenic and influence the immune response of a number of animal species. The syndrome resulting from ingestion of toxin in a mold contaminated food is referred to as mycotoxicosis.
At the beginning of the last century, two major mycotoxicosis caused considerable suffering and mortality. They were alimentary toxic aleukia
(ATA) in Russia, caused by consumption of corn contaminated with T-2 toxin produced by Fusarium sporotrichoides and yellow rice disease in Japan, associated with Penicillium islandicum. More recently, outbreaks of aflatoxicosis caused by consumption of corn contaminated with Aspergillus flavus were reported from India involving approximately 1000 people of whom nearly 100 died.