Search Results (9)

Mycotoxins, toxic secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi, pose significant threats to global food safety, public health, and agricultural sustainability. This review summarizes the classification, biosynthesis, chemistry, and mechanisms of action of these compounds, and highlights their global prevalence and the serious health consequences of both acute and chronic exposure. Despite decades of research, substantial gaps remain in effective surveillance, prevention, and risk management. Traditional control and detection strategies, although valuable, are often limited by their sensitivity, high costs, and inadequate field applicability. Addressing these gaps, this review emphasizes the potential of emerging technologies, particularly the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) with advanced sensing platforms, to revolutionize mycotoxin detection. These innovations offer enhanced precision, real-time monitoring, and predictive modelling capabilities, paving the way for proactive food safety systems. By critically evaluating current knowledge and exploring future-oriented solutions, this review highlights the urgent need for interdisciplinary approaches that integrate molecular insights, biotechnological advancements, and digital technologies. Finally, we emphasize that adopting these novel strategies is essential to overcoming the silent yet profound global impact of mycotoxins. Full article

Background/Objectives: Leguminous plants (Fabaceae) are essential for global food and nutritional security due to their high protein content, bioactive compounds, and ecological role in nitrogen fixation. However, climate change poses significant threats to their productivity, quality, and safety. This review aims to summarize the nutritional, biochemical, and health-related importance of legumes, while highlighting the effects of climate change—particularly heat stress and pest pressure—on their nutritional value and public health implications. Methods: This review is based on an integrative literature review drawing on scientific databases including Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and PubMed (March–October 2025). The relevant literature on climate change, legume composition, stress physiology, pest–plant interactions, and nutrition- and health-related outcomes was identified using targeted search terms. Evidence from diverse study types was synthesized to provide a broad, interdisciplinary perspective rather than a systematic assessment. Results: Legume seeds are rich in proteins, complex carbohydrates, fibers, and essential fatty acids, and contain valuable phytochemicals, including polyphenols, carotenoids, saponins, and bioactive peptides, with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardioprotective effects. Nevertheless, elevated CO₂ levels and temperature stress can reduce protein, iron, and zinc contents, while altering phenolic and isoflavone profiles. Simultaneously, warming enhances pest proliferation and fungal contamination, increasing mycotoxin exposure and associated health risks. Integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, particularly those emphasizing biological control, show promise in mitigating these risks while ensuring sustainable legume production. Conclusions: Safeguarding the nutritional and ecological value of legumes under changing climatic conditions requires coordinated efforts across plant breeding, agronomy, and food science. Enhancing thermotolerance and pest resistance, reducing pesticide use through IPM, and valorizing legume by-products are key to preserving food safety and human health. Legumes, thus, represent both a challenge and an opportunity in achieving resilient, climate-smart nutrition systems for future generations. Full article

Feeding a balanced diet such as total mixed ration (TMR) is a widely adopted feeding strategy providing a uniformly blended diet of roughages, concentrates, and supplements that enhances ruminant productivity by optimizing nutrient utilization, stabilizing rumen fermentation, and improving microbial activity. Scientific studies have confirmed that TMR increases dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield, and growth performance in dairy and beef cattle, as well as in sheep and goats. TMR’s advantages include consistent feed quality, reduced selective feeding, and improved feed efficiency. A key benefit of TMR is its ability to promote the production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), which are the primary energy source for ruminants, particularly propionate. This enhances energy metabolism, resulting in higher carcass yields, increased milk production, and economic benefits compared to conventional or supplementary feeding systems. However, TMR feeding is also susceptible to mycotoxin contamination (e.g., aflatoxins, zearalenone), potential effects on methane emissions, and the need for precise formulation to maintain consistency and optimise profitability. Prevention and good practices, including routine inspection of feed for pathogens and vulnerable ingredients, as well as careful management of particle size and forage-to-concentrate ratios, are crucial in preventing subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) and the development of other subclinical diseases. Mycotoxin binders, such as hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, can also reduce mycotoxin absorption. Another advantage of practicing TMR is that it can support sustainable farming by integrating agro-industrial byproducts, which minimises environmental impact. In conclusion, TMR is a widely adopted feeding strategy that significantly enhances ruminant productivity by optimizing nutrient utilization, stabilizing rumen fermentation, and improving microbial activity, leading to increased dry matter intake, milk yield, and growth performance. It offers key benefits such as consistent feed quality, reduced selective feeding, improved feed efficiency, and enhanced energy metabolism, providing economic advantages and supporting sustainable farming through agro-industrial byproduct integration. However, its implementation requires careful management to mitigate risks, including mycotoxin contamination, potential impacts on methane emissions, and digestive issues like SARA if formulation is not precise. Therefore, for sustainable production, future research should focus on optimizing TMR formulations with alternative ingredients (e.g., agro-industrial byproducts) and precision feeding strategies to enhance livestock health and animal productivity while minimizing environmental impacts. Full article

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a vital crop cultivated primarily in developing regions, playing a strategic role in global food security through its significant contribution to nutrition, economy, and livelihoods. Global and regional production trends revealed increasing demand and expanded cultivation areas, underpinning the fruit’s importance in national food security policies and economic frameworks. The date fruit’s rich nutritional profile, encompassing carbohydrates, dietary fiber, minerals, and bioactive compounds, supports its status as a functional food with health benefits. Postharvest technologies and quality preservation strategies, including temperature-controlled storage, advanced drying, edible coatings, and emerging AI-driven monitoring systems, are critical to reducing losses and maintaining quality across diverse cultivars and maturity stages. Processing techniques such as drying, irradiation, and cold plasma distinctly influence sugar composition, texture, polyphenol retention, and sensory acceptance, with cultivar- and stage-specific responses guiding optimization efforts. The cold chain and innovative packaging solutions, including vacuum and modified atmosphere packaging, along with biopolymer-based edible coatings, enhance storage efficiency and microbial safety, though economic and practical constraints remain, especially for smallholders. Microbial contamination, a major challenge in date fruit storage and export, is addressed through integrated preservation approaches combining thermal, non-thermal, and biopreservative treatment. However, gaps in microbial safety data, mycotoxin evaluation, and regulatory harmonization hinder broader application. Date fruit derivatives such as flesh, syrup, seeds, press cake, pomace, and vinegar offer versatile functional roles across food systems. They improve nutritional value, sensory qualities, and shelf life in bakery, dairy, meat, and beverage products while supporting sustainable waste valorization. Emerging secondary derivatives like powders and extracts further expand the potential for clean-label, health-promoting applications. This comprehensive review underscores the need for multidisciplinary research and development to advance sustainable production, postharvest management, and value-added utilization of date palm fruits, fostering enhanced food security, economic benefits, and consumer health worldwide. Full article

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) is a globally significant vegetable crop that faces productivity challenges due to fungal and bacterial pathogens. This review highlights the potential of spectral imaging techniques, specifically multispectral and hyperspectral methods, in detecting biotic stress in cabbage, with a particular emphasis on pathogen-induced responses. These non-invasive approaches enable real-time assessment of plant physiological and biochemical changes, providing detailed spectral data to identify pathogens before visible symptoms appear. Hyperspectral imaging, with its high spectral resolution, allows for distinctions among different pathogens and the evaluation of stress responses, whereas multispectral imaging offers broad-scale monitoring suitable for field-level applications. The work synthesizes research in the existing literature while presenting novel experimental findings that validate and extend current knowledge. Significant spectral changes are reported in cabbage leaves infected by Alternaria brassicae and Botrytis cinerea. Early-stage detection was facilitated by alterations in flavonoids (400–450 nm), chlorophyll (430–450, 680–700 nm), carotenoids (470–520 nm), xanthophyll (520–600 nm), anthocyanin (550–560 nm, 700–710 nm, 780–790 nm), phenols/mycotoxins (700–750 nm, 718–722), water/pigments content (800–900 nm), and polyphenols/lignin (900–1000). The findings underscore the importance of targeting specific spectral ranges for early pathogen detection. By integrating these techniques with machine learning, this research demonstrates their applicability in advancing precision agriculture, improving disease management, and promoting sustainable production systems. Full article

Grain industries are interested in an integrated approach to in-silo grain quality and safety management using carbon dioxide (CO₂) measurement with temperature and moisture monitoring. Our study investigates if CO₂ production could predict mycotoxin production (T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, its glucoside, and ochratoxin A (OTA)) and identify storage conditions exceeding legislative limits in stored oats for the first time. The influence of water activity (a_w) levels (0.70–0.95 a_w), temperature (15 and 20 °C), and storage duration on (a) Fusarium populations, (b) CO₂ respiration rates (RRs), and (c) mycotoxin concentrations in stored oats was examined. One hundred and twenty samples were analysed for multiple mycotoxins by LC-MS/MS. Substantial differences were found in the RRs of oats at ≥0.90 a_w at both temperatures. A moderate positive correlation between CO₂ and mycotoxins was noticed and mycotoxins exceeded their limits at ≥0.90 a_w (22% moisture content) when RR ≥ 25 µg CO₂ kg⁻¹ h⁻¹. This knowledge forms the basis for developing decision support systems for improving oats’ storage management. Full article

Biosensors are innovative and cost-effective analytical devices that integrate biological recognition elements (bioreceptors) with transducers to detect specific substances (biomolecules), providing a high sensitivity and specificity for the rapid and accurate point-of-care (POC) quantitative detection of selected biomolecules. In the meat production chain, their application has gained attention due to the increasing demand for enhanced food safety, quality assurance, food fraud detection, and regulatory compliance. Biosensors can detect foodborne pathogens (Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli/STEC, L. monocytogenes, etc.), spoilage bacteria and indicators, contaminants (pesticides, dioxins, and mycotoxins), antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance genes, hormones (growth promoters and stress hormones), and metabolites (acute-phase proteins as inflammation markers) at different modules along the meat chain, from livestock farming to packaging in the farm-to-fork (F2F) continuum. By providing real-time data from the meat chain, biosensors enable early interventions, reducing the health risks (foodborne outbreaks) associated with contaminated meat/meat products or sub-standard meat products. Recent advancements in micro- and nanotechnology, microfluidics, and wireless communication have further enhanced the sensitivity, specificity, portability, and automation of biosensors, making them suitable for on-site field applications. The integration of biosensors with blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) systems allows for acquired data integration and management, while their integration with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) enables rapid data processing, analytics, and input for risk assessment by competent authorities. This promotes transparency and traceability within the meat chain, fostering consumer trust and industry accountability. Despite biosensors’ promising potential, challenges such as scalability, reliability associated with the complexity of meat matrices, and regulatory approval are still the main challenges. This review provides a broad overview of the most relevant aspects of current state-of-the-art biosensors’ development, challenges, and opportunities for prospective applications and their regular use in meat safety and quality monitoring, clarifying further perspectives. Full article

Fusarium mycotoxins in cereals constitute major problems for animal and human health worldwide. A range of plant pathogenic Fusarium species that can infect cereal plants in the field are considered the most important source of mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), T-2 toxin, and HT-2 toxin, in small-grain cereal crops in temperate climates. In this article, we (i) critically review the available knowledge on the impact of contrasting production systems (organic versus conventional) and specific agronomic parameters on the occurrence and concentrations of DON, ZEA, and T-2/HT-2 in small-grain cereals (wheat, oats, barley, and rye), and (ii) discuss Fusarium mycotoxin risks in the context of the need to develop more sustainable cereal production systems. Overall, the available evidence from studies of acceptable scientific quality suggests that the incidence and concentrations of Fusarium mycotoxin are lower in organic compared with conventional cereals. Specifically, 24 comparisons showed lower mycotoxin levels in organic production, 16 detected no significant difference, and only 2 showed higher levels in organic production. When the mean concentrations from all studies were compared, conventionally produced cereals had 62%, 110%, and 180% higher concentrations of DON, ZEA, and T-2/HT-2, respectively, than organic cereals. Overall, published studies on the effects of specific agronomic practices on mycotoxin levels suggest that diverse crop rotations and high soil organic matter content/biological activity are associated with a lower risk of Fusarium mycotoxin contamination, whereas (i) high mineral nitrogen fertiliser inputs, (ii) some fungicides and herbicides, and (iii) minimum or no tillage may increase the risks of Fusarium mycotoxin contamination in cereals. The management of Fusarium head blight and mycotoxins, therefore, requires a preventative, integrated, holistic agronomic approach. Full article

Exposure to mycotoxins is a worldwide concern as their occurrence is unavoidable and varies among geographical regions. Mycotoxins can affect the performance and quality of livestock production and act as carriers putting human health at risk. Feed can be contaminated by various fungal species, and mycotoxins co-occurrence, and modified and emerging mycotoxins are at the centre of modern mycotoxin research. Preventing mould and mycotoxin contamination is almost impossible; it is necessary for producers to implement a comprehensive mycotoxin management program to moderate these risks along the animal feed supply chain in an HACCP perspective. The objective of this paper is to suggest an innovative integrated system for handling mycotoxins in the feed chain, with an emphasis on novel strategies for mycotoxin control. Specific and selected technologies, such as nanotechnologies, and management protocols are reported as promising and sustainable options for implementing mycotoxins control, prevention, and management. Further research should be concentrated on methods to determine multi-contaminated samples, and emerging and modified mycotoxins. Full article