**2. Mycotoxin**

Fungal toxins are secondary metabolites, which can cause some diseases in living things known as mycoses; meanwhile, dietary exposure to such metabolites produces the disease named mycotoxicoses. Mycotoxins are known as secondary metabolites, produced from microfungi and able to cause–effect human health as well as animals. Mycotoxins are commonly used as antibiotics and growth promotants because of their unique characteristics in pharmacological activity. Most of the mycotoxin are found as natural contaminant food, mainly in vegetable and feed. Nut, cereals, oilseeds, dried fruits, spices, and food from animal origins for example milk, egg, and meat are also may contain mycotoxin either outside or inside the product [10, 11]. A mycotoxin is believed no function in the life of a producer cell, unlike primary metabolites [12]. There are few types of mycotoxin such as aflatoxins (AFs), zearalenone (ZEA), deoxnivalenol (DON), ochratoxin (OTA) and T-2 toxin (trichothecene mycotoxin) which are a significant threat to the life and health of human and live stocks [13]. Mycotoxins are low molecular weight and thermalstable secondary metabolite of toxic molds that belong to genera *Aspergillus,* 

**87**

**Figure 1.**

*Primary groups of mycotoxins in various food products.*

*Recent Biosensors Technologies for Detection of Mycotoxin in Food Products*

*Penicillium, Alternaria,* and *Fusarium*. These toxins are present in the mycelium and spore of the mold. Mycotoxin may become a biological weapon in bioterrorism

The established mycotoxins for agriculture and public health concerns including aflatoxins, ochratoxins, zearalenone, T-2 and HT-2 toxin, deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, citrinin, patulin, and ergot alkaloids shown in **Figure 1**. Aflatoxins B1 and M1 (AFT B1 & M1) [15] produced by *Aspergillus flavus* and *A. parasiticus* species grown on grains and cereals, spices, tree nuts. Aflatoxin B1(AFB1) is one of the most carcinogenic substances produced by fungi and results in inevitable contamination of food and feed at deficient concentrations. Four main types of aflatoxin naturally contaminate foods which are aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), G1 (AFG1) and their dihydroderivatives B2 (AFB2) and G2 (AFG2). Others without additional metabolites known as Aflatoxin M1 and Aflatoxin M2 [16]. AFT M1 being a 4-hydroxylated metabolite of AFT B1, is found in cow and sheep milk and milk products. Some studied had been identified there is 20 aflatoxins that belongs to a group called highly substituted difuranocoumarins. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had been classified aflatoxin as very toxic compounds in group 1 due

Ochratoxin A (OTA) produced by *Aspergillus ochraceus, A. carbonarius,* and *Penicillium verrucosum* is one of the most abundant contaminants in grain and pork products, coffee, dried grapes, as well in wine and beer at humidity around 15–19%

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89022*

**3. Types of mycotoxin**

because of its acute and chronic toxicities [14].

to evidence that shows the carcinogenicity in human [17].

*Recent Biosensors Technologies for Detection of Mycotoxin in Food Products DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89022*

*Penicillium, Alternaria,* and *Fusarium*. These toxins are present in the mycelium and spore of the mold. Mycotoxin may become a biological weapon in bioterrorism because of its acute and chronic toxicities [14].
