Nutritionist > Poultry

Overview of mycotoxins
Under the appropriate conditions, fungi proliferate, grow colonies and mycotoxin levels become high. As conditions for fungal growth vary greatly between field and storage, different fungal populations may be present, resulting in cocktails of mycotoxins being produced. This must be taken into consideration when conducting an appropriate risk assessment and implementing preventative measures. Although several hundred mycotoxins are known, the mycotoxins of most concern, based on their toxicity and occurrence, are aflatoxin, ochratoxin A, trichothecenes (DON, T-2 toxin, DAS, etc), zearalenone, fumonisin, and moniliformin (Table 1).

Table 1: Occurrence of different key mycotoxins