Abstract:
Aflatoxins are a group of related fungal metabolites primarily produced by Aspergillus flavus
and A. parasiticus. Aflatoxin is a global food safety concern with rural subsistence farming
communities in developing countries being the populations most at risk of exposure. Aflatoxin
contamination is the main food safety problem for field crops produced in tropical and
subtropical climate regions where high temperature and humidity promote growth and
proliferation of Aspergillus spp. Foods and feeds, especially cereal grains, are susceptible to
invasion by molds during pre-harvest, processing, transportation, or storage. Aflatoxins impose
effects in both economic and health sectors where the crisis leads to death of human beings and
animals. The most well established health effect of chronic aflatoxin exposure are hepatocellular
carcinoma impaired child growth and immune suppression. To minimize the risk of aflatoxicosis,
there are several physical, chemical and biological methods available, but the biological
strategies are safest and well effective. Therefore, this review was aimed to show the health
impact of aflatoxins and the promising strategies against aflatoxin contamination.
