Review of mycotoxins in foods in Nigeria

Contamination of foods by fungi and subsequent synthesis of mycotoxins in situ is a global menace. This is attributed to biotic and abiotic factors. There are several reported incidences of mycotoxins in foods marketed in Nigeria, though inadequate. Mycotoxins contaminate foods at pre and post harvest stages, during storage, transportation, processing and during sales. There are reported diseases which are associated with mycotoxins toxicity and they include cancers, kidney failures, immunosuppression etc. At present there are limited review articles with up-to date information on this subject matter in Nigeria, hence the need for the present review. However, cases of incidence of mycotoxins are known to fluctuate over time and as such require updated information. This work captured reports of mycotoxins from animal and plant sources, raw and cooked, processed and unprocessed, products and by-products, local and imported, pre harvest and post harvest, fermented and unfermented food items. The most reported mycotoxins in foods in Nigeria are the aflatoxins (AFs) followed by ochratoxin A (OTA), fumonisins (FBs) while zearalenone (ZEA), deoxynivalenol (DON) etc are sparingly reported. There is paucity of information on the mycotoxins content of foods in the north east geo-political zone while mycotoxins are most researched and reported in foods in the south west geo-political zone of Nigeria. The present work reports mycotoxins prevalence in foods in the six geo-political zones and some agro ecological zones of Nigeria.