Ergotism also known as “St. Anthony’s Fire”, a disease that occured as epidemic during the Middle Ages, is the oldest identified mycotoxicosis in humans caused by mycotoxin ergotin, produced by fungi Claviceps purpurea that grows on wheat and rye. Mycotoxins are low molecular-weight toxic metabolites of fungi, so called alkaloids, which are capable of causing disease and death in humans and animals. Thousands of mycotoxins have been described and identified; but only those produced by fungi genera Aspregillus, Fusarium and Penicillium are actually associated to food. When present in food (maize, wheat, peanuts, apricots, grapes, apples, olives, peaches etc.) in sufficiently high levels, toxic fungal metabolites might induce different toxic symptoms that range from acute (for example kidney detoriation) to chronic (liver cancer) together with mutagenic or teratogenic effects. Total number of people affected by any kind of mycotoxicosis is unknown; however most of them are coming from developing countries especially from tropical areas where high temperature and moisture lead to fungal proliferation and production of mycotoxins. Although methods for controlling mycotoxins are enforced having mostly preventive character, such as: good agricultural practice; host resistance through breeding or by antifungal genes via genetic engineering, none of these methods was successful in control of those “natural” food contaminants.
By Irina Ćalić
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