Why should we be concerned about mycotoxins?
They are potent toxins with a wide range of actions on humans and animals. An extensive literature describes neurotoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, immunosuppressive, and estrogenic effects of mycotoxins. Although the greatest risk to humans comes from the direct contamination of food, the entry of mycotoxins into the food chain via eggs, milk, and meat should not be overlooked. However, health issues as a result of mycotoxin contamination of human food are restricted to developing countries. Nonetheless, in industrial countries mycotoxin contamination is an important agricultural problem and thus related to feed stuffs. Mycotoxins are persistent: they are usually not broken down in digestion, nor does cooking destroy them. There are hundreds of them, and from the point of view of organic chemistry they exhibit great structural diversity that leads to different chemical properties, and that variety is of course a challenge in terms of detection techniques. Aflatoxins, which are produced
