Mycotoxins

Mycotoxins are toxic metabolic products of moulds. About 200 different toxins are known; they are produced by slightly more than 300 fungal species. Purely linguistically the term "mycotoxin" is to be distinguished from the term "fungal poison". Fungal toxins (above all phallatoxins, amantinins) are formed by large fungi and here in their fruiting bodies.

Mycotoxins are toxic for humans (even for animals at the same temperature) even in small doses. In Central Europe the importance of mycotoxins is increasing. This is caused by food imports from areas with a warm and humid climate. They are threatened by mould infestation at all stages of production, from agricultural production to food processing and storage.

For further details see below Mycotoxins (microbiology)