Fungal Growth and Mycotoxins Production: Types, Toxicities, Control Strategies, and Detoxification

Fungal growth and the production of mycotoxins are influenced by several factors. Environmental conditions such as temperature, water activity, and humidity affect mycotoxin production and fungal growth. Other factors such as pH, fungal strain, and substrate also play roles. Common mycotoxins include aflatoxins, fumonisins, trichothecenes, sterigmatocystin (STC), citrinin, ergot alkaloids, ochratoxins, zearalenones (ZEAs), patulin, deoxynivalenol (DON), Alternaria toxins, tremorgenic mycotoxins, fusarins, cyclochlorotine, sporidesmin, 3-nitropropionic acid, etc. These toxins cause many health conditions in animals and humans, including death. A comprehensive approach starting from the field before planting, continuing throughout the entire food chain is required to control mycotoxin contamination. Good practices, such as proper field practices before and after planting, good harvest practices and postharvest handling, and proper drying and storage measures, help reduce mycotoxin contamination. Several physical, biological, and chemical techniques have been applied to help reduce/eliminate mycotoxin contamination. Food processing also play slight role in mycotoxins removal.

Download Full-text

Mycotoxins in Fruits, Fruit Juices, and Dried Fruits

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-66.8.1514 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 66 (8) ◽

pp. 1514-1527 ◽

Cited By ~ 124

Author(s):

S. DRUSCH ◽

W. RAGAB

Keyword(s):

Environmental Factors ◽

Fungal Growth ◽

Complete Removal ◽

Fruit Juices ◽

Fungal Mycelium ◽

Careful Selection ◽

Dried Fruits ◽

Mycotoxin Contamination ◽

And Storage ◽

Processing Steps

This review gives an overview of the presence of mycotoxins in fruits. Although several mycotoxins occur in nature, very few (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, patulin, Alternaria toxins) are regularly found in fruits. It has been shown that the presence of fungi on fruits is not necessarily associated with mycotoxin contamination. The formation of mycotoxins depends more on endogenous and environmental factors than fungal growth does. Mycotoxins may remain in fruits even when the fungal mycelium has been removed. Depending on the fruit and the mycotoxin, the diffusion of mycotoxins into the sound tissues of fruits may occur. The influence of the selection and storage of fruits and the influence of different processing steps involved in the production of fruit juices and dried fruits on possible mycotoxin contamination is described. It is shown that the careful selection, washing, and sorting of fruits is the most important factor in the reduction of mycotoxin contamination during the production of fruit juices. The processing of fruits does not result in the complete removal of mycotoxins.

Download Full-text

Advances in Occurrence, Importance, and Mycotoxin Control Strategies: Prevention and Detoxification in Foods

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods9020137 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 137 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Sofia Agriopoulou ◽

Eygenia Stamatelopoulou ◽

Theodoros Varzakas

Keyword(s):

Control Strategies ◽

Ergot Alkaloids ◽

Agricultural Products ◽

Toxic Substances ◽

Fusarium Mycotoxins ◽

Mycotoxin Contamination ◽

Post Harvest ◽

Recent Advances ◽

Alternaria Toxins

Mycotoxins are toxic substances that can infect many foods with carcinogenic, genotoxic, teratogenic, nephrotoxic, and hepatotoxic effects. Mycotoxin contamination of foodstuffs causes diseases worldwide. The major classes of mycotoxins that are of the greatest agroeconomic importance are aflatoxins, ochratoxins, fumonisins, trichothecenes, emerging Fusarium mycotoxins, enniatins, ergot alkaloids, Alternaria toxins, and patulin. Thus, in order to mitigate mycotoxin contamination of foods, many control approaches are used. Prevention, detoxification, and decontamination of mycotoxins can contribute in this purpose in the pre-harvest and post-harvest stages. Therefore, the purpose of the review is to elaborate on the recent advances regarding the occurrence of main mycotoxins in many types of important agricultural products, as well as the methods of inactivation and detoxification of foods from mycotoxins in order to reduce or fully eliminate them.

Download Full-text

Postharvest handling and storage of cured vanilla beans

Stewart Postharvest Review ◽

10.2212/spr.2006.4.6 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

Postharvest Handling ◽

And Storage

Download Full-text

Dynamic grid fault analysis in wind power plant with DFIG by using supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) viewer

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202018103006 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 181 ◽

pp. 03006

Author(s):

Nduwamungu Aphrodis ◽

Ntagwirumugara Etienne ◽

Utetiwabo Wellars ◽

Mulolani Francis

Keyword(s):

Power Systems ◽

Power Flow ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Electrical Power ◽

Fault Analysis ◽

Operational Mode ◽

Electrical Power Systems ◽

Fault Ride Through ◽

Before And After ◽

Clearing Time

Faults in electrical power systems are among the key factors and sources to network disturbances, however control strategies are among key faults clearing techniques for the sake of safe operational mode of the system.Some researchers have shown various limitations of control strategies such as slow dynamic response,inability to switch Off and On network remotely and fault clearing time. For a system with wind energy technologies, if the power flow of a wind turbine is interrupted by a fault, the intermediate-circuit voltage between the machine-side converter and line-side converter will fall in unacceptably high values.To overcome the aforementioned issues, this paper used a Matlab simulations and experiments in order to analyze and validate the results.The results showed that fault ride through (FRT) with SCADA Viewer software are more adaptable to the variations of voltage and wind speed in order to avoid loss of synchronism. Therefore at the speed of 12.5m/s a wind produced a rated power of 750W and remained in synchronization before and after a fault created and cleared but worked as generator meanwhile at speed of 3.4m/s wind disconnected from grid and started working as a motor and consumed active power (P=-25watts) and voltage dip at 100% .For the protection purpose, the DC chopper and crowbar should be integrated towards management of excess energy during faults cases.

Download Full-text

Eco-Friendly Fired Brick Produced from Industrial Ash and Natural Clay: A Study of Waste Reuse

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14040877 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 877 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Neslihan Doğan-Sağlamtimur ◽

Ahmet Bilgil ◽

Magdalena Szechyńska-Hebda ◽

Sławomir Parzych ◽

Marek Hebda

Keyword(s):

Compressive Strength ◽

Bottom Ash ◽

Unit Weight ◽

Waste Reuse ◽

Industrial Solid Waste ◽

Second Stage ◽

Before And After ◽

Fired Bricks ◽

Two Stages ◽

And Storage

Bottom ash (BA) is an industrial solid waste formed by the burning of coal. The environmental problems and storage costs caused by this waste increase with every passing day. In this study, the use of BA as an additive (clay substitute) in fired brick production was investigated. The study consisted of two stages. In the first stage, cylinder blocks were produced from clay used in brick production. The second stage was the examination of the experimental substitution of clay with 10, 20, 30 and 40% BA. Samples were fired at 900, 1000, 1100 and 1150 °C to produce fired brick samples. The unit weight, compressive strength (before and after freeze–thawing) and water absorption were analyzed for the samples. The unit weight values decreased in the samples containing BA. The mechanical properties met the conditions prescribed in the relevant standards; i.e., all of the samples fired at 1100 and 1150 °C had a sufficient compressive strength over 20 MPa. The high potential of fired bricks for the construction industry was proved. BA can be used as a clay substitute, while the developed protocol can be used to effectively produce fired bricks.

Download Full-text

Effects of Organic Solvent on Curing Behavior and Storage Stability for Waterborne Paint Containing Catalyst Encapsulated in Micelles

Coatings ◽

10.3390/coatings11060722 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 722

Author(s):

Shuji Yomo

Keyword(s):

Organic Solvent ◽

Organic Solvents ◽

Storage Stability ◽

Dibutyltin Dilaurate ◽

Film Properties ◽

Surfactant Micelles ◽

Catalytic Function ◽

Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance ◽

Before And After ◽

And Storage

In this study, a 2-pack isocyanate curing waterborne paint (without organic solvents) encapsulating dibutyltin dilaurate (hereinafter, DBTL) in nonionic surfactant micelles with an hydrophilic–lipophilic balance of 13–14 in advance releases DBTL when the micelles are collapsed at 80 °C or higher, whereby the curing progresses rapidly. On the other hand, the viscosity levels of the paint before and after being left at 40 °C for 1 h are almost the same. Organic solvents are mandatory for waterborne paints to provide paint and film properties, but they might collapse the micelles when they are formulated in the paint. In this study, we investigate whether the abovementioned paint containing organic solvents can develop switching functionality in terms of maintaining the storage stability at 40 °C and expressing a catalytic function at 80 °C to progress the curing. As a result, we find that if the solubility of the organic solvent in water at 20 °C is at least 10 g/100 mL and the boiling point is ≤200 °C, both curing and storage stability can be achieved.

Download Full-text

Emergency department utilization for mental health conditions before and after the COVID-19 outbreak

The American Journal of Emergency Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.ajem.2021.03.084 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 164-168

Author(s):

Stephanie Stroever ◽

Chelsea Brett ◽

Katherine Michael ◽

Joann Petrini

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Emergency Department ◽

Health Conditions ◽

Emergency Department Utilization ◽

Mental Health Conditions ◽

Before And After

Download Full-text

Postharvest handling of cut immature Eucalyptus foliage

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea9930663 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 33 (5) ◽

pp. 663 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

RB Jones ◽

JK Truett ◽

M Hill

Keyword(s):

Active Chlorine ◽

Vase Life ◽

Distilled Water ◽

Dry Storage ◽

Wet Storage ◽

Postharvest Handling ◽

Low Levels ◽

Exogenous Ethylene ◽

Dry Transport ◽

And Storage

Optimum postharvest and storage treatments were investigated for cut immature branches of Eucalyptus crenulata Blakely & Beuzev. and Eucalyptus gunnii J. D. Hook. The application of the germicide BCDMH at 10 mg/L of active chlorine, 100 �L Agral-600/L. or 0.25% sucrose to vase solutions significantly enhanced vase life in E. crenulata Longevity in E. gunnii was significantly extended by sucrose (0.25-2% w/v), but not by germicides or Agral. Sucrose pulses (1-10% for 24 11 at 20�C) or exogenous ethylene (50 �L/L for 24 h at 20�C) had no effect on the longevity of either species. Both species produced very low levels of ethylene immediately after harvest and after a 24-h simulation of dry transport at 20�C. Longevity was not significantly altered in either species by 35 days of dry storage at 1�C. or by 7 days of wet storage (branches held in distilled water + 50 mg DICAJL) at 1�C, but declined significantly in both species after 7 days of wet storage at 10�C.

Download Full-text