Microbial Toxins: A Comprehensive Treatise, Volume VIII, Fungal Toxins is devoted to topics related to algal and fungal toxins and includes critically reviewed articles from different experts in related fields. The text is divided into three sections. Section A covers coumarins — its isolation, identification, biological action, natural occurrence, and uses. Section B deals with the epizootiology, clinical characteristics, and pathological findings of Stachybotryotoxicosis. Section C talks about phytopathogenic and helminthosporium toxins, toxic peptides found in Amanita species as well as other mushroom toxins, compounds accumulating in plants after an infection, and ergot. The book is recommended for microbiologists and toxicologists, especially those who would like to know more about the toxins produced by algae and fungi and their effects.

A mycotoxin is a toxin produced by a fungus under special conditions of moisture and temperature. These fungi are aerobic and microscopic and, moreover, may colonize many kinds of food from the field to the table. Mycotoxins are not only a spoilage issue for food, but in high doses can be a serious health threat for humans. The book will be similar to Weidenborner’s previous two books - “Mycotoxins in Feedstuffs” and “Mycotoxins in Foodstuffs” - in that it will be a review of the literature to create a comprehensive reference for mycotoxin levels. It will be his third (and last) book on the topic, this time focusing on the incidence of a mycotoxin in humans and/or animals (natural or artificial incidence). Each entry will include contamination, concentration rate, mean concentration of organs (humans and animals) with a mycotoxin, as well as sample constitution (where possible) and country of origin of the sample.

The first book to cover this fast developing field, Masked Mycotoxins in Food will provide a full overview of the issues relating to the toxicology of masked mycotoxins present in food products. Mycotoxins are naturally occurring chemicals produced by moulds that can grow on crops and foodstuffs. Masked mycotoxins are modified mycotoxins, due to this modification many cannot be detected using standard analytical techniques, for example HPLC and ELISA, and further research is needed to understand the health risks and threats from these modified compounds.Masked mycotoxin research is an area of toxicological research that has gained significant interest and momentum in recent years. The aim of this book is to provide a full picture of the topic, from the masked mycotoxin formation in plants to their catabolic fate in humans. The book also provides new insights and will highlight possible gaps in the knowledge base of this relatively new area. Edited and written by World renowned experts working within the field, this book is of interest to toxicologists and biochemists, but also food scientists and agricultural researchers working in industry and academia.

This book is an outcome of the MycoGlobe conference in Accra. Most of the chapters are based on invited oral presentations made at the conference. The chapters in this book touch on issues including health, trade, ecology, epidemiology, occurrence, detection, management, awareness and policy. This book serves as a source of information on the occurrence and impact of mycotoxins on everything from trade and health to agricultural production in addition to suggesting opportunities for their management in Africa and elsewhere by researchers, policy makers and development investors.

Almost all homes, apartments, and commercial buildings will experience leaks, flooding, or other forms of excessive indoor dampness at some point. Not only is excessive dampness a health problem by itself, it also contributes to several other potentially problematic types of situations. Molds and other microbial agents favor damp indoor environments, and excess moisture may initiate the release of chemical emissions from damaged building materials and furnishings. This new book from the Institute of Medicine examines the health impact of exposures resulting from damp indoor environments and offers recommendations for public health interventions. Damp Indoor Spaces and Health covers a broad range of topics. The book not only examines the relationship between damp or moldy indoor environments and adverse health outcomes but also discusses how and where buildings get wet, how dampness influences microbial growth and chemical emissions, ways to prevent and remediate dampness, and elements of a public health response to the issues. A comprehensive literature review finds sufficient evidence of an association between damp indoor environments and some upper respiratory tract symptoms, coughing, wheezing, and asthma symptoms in sensitized persons. This important book will be of interest to a wide-ranging audience of science, health, engineering, and building professionals, government officials, and members of the public.

The biosynthetic diversity of secondary metabolites; Epidemiology of fusarium ear diseases of cereals; Breeding for resistance to fusarium wheat and maize; Spectral characteristic of secondary metabolites; Penicillium and aspergillus toxins; Ecological aspects of growth and mycotoxin production by storage fungi; Alternaria toxins; Immunotoxic effects of mycotoxins; Toxicology of mycotoxins; Residues in food products of animal origin; Decontamination of fusarium mycotoxins; Prevention of human mycotozicoses through risk assessment and risk management; Factors responsible for economic losses due to fusarium mycotoxin contamination of grains, foods, and feedstuffs; Diseases in humans with mycotoxins as possible causes.

Aflatoxins, natural fungal toxins found in foods and animal feeds, have great public health significance. This book presents the basic and applied toxicology of aflatoxins, including analytical identification, agricultural and veterinary implications, toxicology and carcinogenesis in humans, and economic and regulatory problems associated with aflatoxin contamination and control. - Molecular mechanisms of aflatoxin toxicity - Analytical issues in sampling and analysis - Regulatory and economic issues associated with aflatoxin contamination of food and feed - Presentation of human and animal toxicology, veterinary, and agricultural issues related to aflatoxin contamination

This reference is a "must-read": It explains how an effective and economically viable enzymatic process in industry is developed and presents numerous successful examples which underline the efficiency of biocatalysis.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by the fungi of different species (mainly Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium), with toxic effects for humans and animals. These mycotoxins can contaminate food and feed. The European Union (EU) has established the maximum permitted or recommended levels for well-known mycotoxins in different foodstuffs. However, there are other mycotoxins that are not included in the regulations: the “emerging mycotoxins” (whose toxicity is still not clear), and the “modified or masked mycotoxins” (produced as a consequence of a detoxification strategy of the host plant of the fungus or during food processing). These mycotoxins could pose a risk and should also be taken into account. In order to assure consumers’ health, analytical methods for the accurate determination of mycotoxins in different food matrices and feeds are required. In this sense, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) is a powerful tool for their unique identification and quantification. Moreover, the use of high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) allows one to identify novel mycotoxins and targeted/untargeted approaches for study. This Special Issue compiles recent applications of LC–MS/MS in mycotoxin studies, as well as the development and validation of new analytical methods for their identification and quantification in different food matrices and feed, occurrence studies, and the biomonitoring of mycotoxins and their metabolites in biological fluids.

This handbook compiles authoritative information about fungal metabolites and their chemistry and biotechnology. The first in the reference work series “Phytochemicals”, and written by a team of international expert authors, this book provides reference information ranging from the description of fungal natural products, over their use e.g. as anticancer agents, to microbial synthesis, even spanning to the production of secondary metabolites on industrial scale. On the other hand it also describes global health issues related to aflatoxin production in foods and agriculture, including perspectives for detoxification. The handbook characterizes different compound classes derived from fungal secondary metabolites, like ergot alkaloids and aflatoxins. The discussion puts a special emphasis on how potentially useful compounds can be obtained and what applications they can find, on the one hand, and how potential dangers can be encountered on the other hand. The comprehensive chapters in this handbook will thus appeal to readers from diverse backgrounds in chemistry, biology, life sciences, and even medicine, who are working or planning to work with fungal (secondary) metabolites and their application. They provide the readers with rich sources of reference information on important topics in this field.