Mycotoxins By Thany Alexander

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by an organism of the fungus kingdom

That basically means that the fungi releases toxins during aerobic respiration Some of these toxins can be lethal or cause many diseases including cancer in humans.

Mycotoxins can be found in many seeds, corn and also milk and other dairy products.

In this picture it shows how a aflatoxin, a specific type of mycotoxin produced by the Aspergillus genus, stops the absorption of vitamin D in the digestive system of a young meat bird.

This graph clearly displays the effects of mycotoxin contamination in the body of a chicken.

The effects of they mycotoxin is different on animals than humans. However you cannot get rid of mycotoxins by cooking the meat. They also resist decomposition during digestion.

Not only are mycotoxins deadly for humans and chickens but also, if they can proliferate a food chain, it can kill off the predatory animals because of the build up of the toxin. This will screw up the entire ecosystem.

Aspergillus flavus

That specific mycotoxin is very deadly. Its can cause liver necrosis, liver tumors, reduced growth, depressed immune response, carcinogen. During droughts the aflatoxin is more common due to its ability to grow better on corn in stress conditions. This adds to its ability to infect, since food is scarce and the infected corn will be most likely eaten.

In 2004 in Kenya 125 people died and nearly 200 others were treated after eating aflatoxin contaminated maize. This was the biggest outbreak and death toll of any mycotoxin. However there is a theory that the 10 biblical plagues in Egypt were caused by mycotoxins.