**3. Types of mycotoxin**

*Mycotoxins and Food Safety*

and Japan [4].

animals effectively.

**2. Mycotoxin**

Mycotoxins including aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxins (OT), trichothecenes, zearalenone (ZEN), fumonisins (F), tremorgenic toxins, and ergot alkaloids mostly affect the public health and agro-economic significance. Factors affecting the magnitude of toxicity to the living organism are by consuming mycotoxin-contaminated foods or feeds, including species, mechanisms/modes of action, metabolism, and defense mechanisms [3]. Most of the countries agreed to set the limits of mycotoxins present in food because of the effects of the mycotoxins to human health. The permitted level is slightly different, which depends on the type of food products. The minimum limits for mycotoxins in single ppb (part per billion) and even below (0.05 ppb for infant foods) are established in EU, with similar standards in China

Guan et al. [5] reported about 98% of the agricultural commodities, including corn, compound animal feeds, silage, cornmeal, puffed corn, wheat, bran, soybean meal, rapeseed meal, cottonseed meal and whole cottonseed content various group of mycotoxins. Besides, Smith et al. [6] stated that several mycotoxins contaminate approximately 48% of 7049 feedstuffs. Thus, it is essential to detect mycotoxins in the food industry to address the mycotoxin-related health issues to humans and

Conventional techniques such as thin-layer chromatography (TLC), highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry have been suggested by international organizations as standard approaches to study the occurrence of mycotoxins in food products [7]. Besides, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) had been widely used to identify different types of mycotoxins. However, it has slight defects of cross-reactivity and possible false-positive or falsenegative outcomes [8]. Also, those techniques usually costly and available in a specialized research laboratory needs highly personnel trained and laborious. Recently, advanced methods used to detect the presence of mycotoxins in food samples, which show high sensitivity, low cost, simple operation, and portable on-field use [9]. Besides, portable and easy-to-use biosensor devices suitable for express, in-field detection of mycotoxins. The development of biosensors for mycotoxins has risen sharply in the last decade with a large number of different bio-sensing technologies application. Zheng et al. (2006) reported biosensor as rapid methods which typically cost-effective, easy to be handled as well as a portable device to be

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,* 

used in an interchanging site compared to laboratory analysis.

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

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%

**Figure 1.**

*Primary groups of mycotoxins in various food products.*

and temperature ≥15°C [18]. OTA is carcinogenic and neurotoxic for humans, and immunotoxic for animals [19]. OTA can cause various forms of kidney, liver, and brain diseases in both humans and animals, although the trace amount of OTA usually is present in food [20].

Zearalenone (ZEN) produced by *Fusarium* or *Giberella* species grown on crops (maize, barley, oats, wheat, rice, also bread) is a potent estrogen metabolite causing infertility in swine and poultry [21].
