Mycotoxin
my·co·tox·in | \ ˌmī-kə-ˈtäk-sən \
Potent chemical toxins produced naturally by fungi, which contaminate key food crops and may lead to health and nutrition deficits in vulnerable populations.
What are mycotoxins?
Mycotoxins are a natural product of fungal growth, and we interact with them every day in various ways.
Produced by common soil- and/or plant-dwelling fungal species, mycotoxins are abundant in our foods and the natural environment. Out of hundreds, there are just a few mycotoxins that are of major relevance for food safety and nutrition. Aflatoxin, the best known mycotoxin and a common contaminant in maize and other cereals and pulses, has been implicated in numerous health and nutrition adversities including liver cirrhosis and cancer, immunological deficiencies, and growth impairment/malnutrition. Fumonisin, also a contaminant in maize, has been linked to a range of cancers and ailments in humans and livestock animals alike.
In the United States, and indeed many parts of the developed Western world, governmental regulations are effective enough to protect most of us from serious mycotoxin exposures. However, smallholders in resource-poor settings, and particularly in the developing tropics, are not effectively served by formal food safety regulations. The result is that many local commodities are circulated and consumed in food systems without any rigorous quality control - constituting possibly dangerous exposures to mycotoxins and other environmental toxins.
An aim of my work is to empower those same smallholders to assess and act against mycotoxin risk factors by leveraging their own local knowledge and tools. Starting with participatory diagnostics, farmer-participants probe nodes of the food system for vulnerabilities. Then, using a fully-democratic process, the stakeholders engage with professional researchers to define and test intervention options that fit local contexts, on their own terms.
The outcome of this process is not only food products bereft of toxins, but also food systems that are emboldened in their capacity to recognize challenges and nurture sincere community-wide resilience.
Control starts in the field…
Mycotoxins can accumulate in food and feed across all nodes of the food value chain - from the farm field to the kitchen pantry. There are many control measures that span each of these domains. While ameliorative removal/detoxification of contaminated produce vis post-harvest and pre-consumption interventions is important, the most powerful strategies are the ones that prevent accumulation in the first place. These interventions, which take place in the production context, could include variety selection, agronomic practices, pest and disease control, and seasonal cropping system composition.
…and continues in the home.
An unfortunate reality is that under some conditions, a certain fraction of produce from the farm may be contaminated with mycotoxins - resulting in potential for dietary exposures from household food consumption. Moreover, if processing and storage conditions are sub-optimal (think: too moist, too warm, too exposed, etc.), fungus may continue to produce toxins in the storage environment, resulting in even greater exposure risk.
Simple, tried-and-true solutions such as visual sorting, solar drying practices, and natural bio-protective additives can make demonstrable impacts at little cost to the farmer. In conjunction with innovative drying, storage, and quality monitoring technologies, local knowledge can synergize with and inform modern post-harvest controls that are maximally accessible to farmer communities.