Preface

The contamination of food and feed by aflatoxins remains a worldwide concern and a global threat to humans and animals. Accordingly, it can occur at any level from pre- to post-harvest, including transportation and storage. Aflatoxins are known to be highly carcinogenic, hence the consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated food can affect the liver, immune system, and other body functions. The occurrence of aflatoxin usually increases in warm and humid climates where different commodities such as maize, dried fruits, and spices as well as meat products and milk are at high contamination risk. There exist numerous detection methods for aflatoxins, such as liquid chromatography, infrared imaging, fluorescence imaging, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Thus, by improving or creating new detection methods, highly accurate results can be generated in a short-term manner. Due to their harmful effect, the detoxification of aflatoxins remains a crucial industrial problem. This detoxification can be conducted using diverse chemical, physical, and biological methods. First, the physical methods rely on using a different kinds of adsorbents to control food or feed contamination. Second, the use of chemical substances for detoxification may also be an option when using safe chemicals. Nevertheless, biological detoxification using lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and other non-pathogenic microorganisms is progressively becoming a suitable detoxification approach due to its high specificity and safety profile. The discovery of new promising agents and technologies for aflatoxin detoxification is imperative and may lead to the elimination of the danger caused by these toxic metabolites.

> **Jean Claude Assaf** Saint Joseph University and Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon

**1**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

European countries.

**1. Introduction**

exhibit a yellow-green one.

**1.1 Aflatoxins**

**Keywords:** aflatoxins, climate change, Mediterranean

Experience

Aflatoxins in the Era of Climate

Change: The Mediterranean

*Rouaa Daou, Jean Claude Assaf and André El Khoury*

*Aspergilluss* sp. is a fungi that attack crops on the field or during storage. Generally,

Aflatoxins (AFs) are a group of mycotoxins produced by *Aspergillus* species mainly by *A. flavus* and *A. parasiticus* [1] and to a lesser extent, by *A. bombycis*, *A. ochraceoroseus*, *A. nomius*, and *A. pseudotamari* [2]. Eighteen AFs have been identified so far, but the ones with major significance are aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin G1, aflatoxin G2, aflatoxin M1, and aflatoxin M2 [1, 3]. AFs are difuranocoumarin molecules that are produced by the polyketide pathway of fungi. Molecular differences among AF groups exist; for example, the B-aflatoxins exhibit a cyclopentane ring while the G-aflatoxins have a lactone ring (**Figure 1**) [3]. In addition to that, B-aflatoxins display blue fluorescence under ultraviolet light, while G-aflatoxins

those fungi are most frequent in tropical and subtropical regions where environmental factors characterized by high humidity and temperatures are favorable for their production. Aflatoxins are produced as their secondary metabolites including aflatoxin B1. Aflatoxins have been classified as carcinogenic to human by the International Agency for Research on Cancer due to their profound health effects, mainly, hepatocarcinogenicity. Hence, they contaminate a large share of the global food chain. Traditionally, aflatoxin contamination was not frequent in temperate regions such as the Mediterranean, however, with climate change patterns including elevated temperatures, increased humidity, and increased droughts, a shift in fungal attack patterns is expected in such areas in a way that favors *Aspergillus* sp. infestation and aflatoxin contamination. Therefore, with increased global warming more aflatoxin contamination is expected in the Mediterranean basin, specifically, the Sothern
