Mycotoxins are highly toxic secondary metabolic products of mold and can be found on almost all agricultural commodities world wide. They occur under natural conditions in animal feed. According to the FAO, 25 per cent of the world's crop harvests are contaminated with mycotoxins.
There are currently 400 known mycotoxins categorized into six major classes that frequently occur: aflatoxins, trichothecenes, fumonisins, zearalenone, ochratoxin, and ergot alkaloids They are formed by different kinds of fungo and each fungi species can produce more than one mycotoxin.
