<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Aflatoxins are fungal toxins produced by <italic>Aspergillus</italic> species, which, due to increasing temperature and climate change in the temperate zone, appeared in the most important feeding plant and food ingredients. The most toxic of them is aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), which hydroxylates to aflatoxin M1 in the body of dairy animals and humans, and excretes in the milk. With the development of analytical methods, researchers are now able to detect toxins with a concentration of ng/kg. It was found that in most countries in Europe both breast milk and cow’s milk may contain AFM1, and therefore increased attention should be paid to the toxin content of milk, and that those above the limit should be excluded from consumption. In addition to cow’s milk, the AFM1 toxin content of breast milk can also be significant, the precursors of which are introduced into the mother’s body with food. Aflatoxins are highly resistant to physical, chemical, and microbiological effects, so the detoxification of foods, especially milk, is almost impossible. The best solution appears to be feeding the animals with toxin-free feeds or feeds containing toxins below the permitted limit, without giving opportunity to the toxins to enter the milk from the feed and from there into the human body.</p></abstract>

Aflatoxins are fungal toxins produced by Aspergillus species, which, due to increasing temperature and climate change in the temperate zone, appeared in the most important feeding plant and food ingredients. The most toxic of them is aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), which hydroxylates to aflatoxin M1 in the body of dairy animals and humans, and excretes in the milk. With the development of analytical methods, researchers are now able to detect toxins with a concentration of ng/kg. It was found that in most countries in Europe both breast milk and cow’s milk may contain AFM1, and therefore increased attention should be paid to the toxin content of milk, and that those above the limit should be excluded from consumption. In addition to cow’s milk, the AFM1 toxin content of breast milk can also be significant, the precursors of which are introduced into the mother’s body with food. Aflatoxins are highly resistant to physical, chemical, and microbiological effects, so the detoxification of foods, especially milk, is almost impossible. The best solution appears to be feeding the animals with toxin-free feeds or feeds containing toxins below the permitted limit, without giving opportunity to the toxins to enter the milk from the feed and from there into the human body.

The aflatoxin content of milk and dairy products as well as breast milk and the possibilities of detoxification

Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management

Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Faculty of Economics, Socio-Human Sciences and Engineering, Department of Food Science

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Alimentaria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Aflatoxins are fungal toxins produced by Aspergillus species, which, due to increasing temperature and climate change in the temperate zone, appeared in the...

The aflatoxin content of milk and dairy products as well as breast milk and the possibilities of detoxification

Published Online: Nov 05, 2020

Page range: 99 - 117

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausal-2020-0006

Keywords
mycotoxins, aflatoxins, aflatoxin M1, milk, breast milk, detoxification of mycotoxins, determination of aflatoxins

© 2020 J. Csapó et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The aflatoxin content of milk and dairy products as well as breast milk and the possibilities of detoxification

Published Online: Nov 05, 2020

Page range: 99 - 117

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausal-2020-0006

Keywordsmycotoxins, aflatoxins, aflatoxin M1, milk, breast milk, detoxification of mycotoxins, determination of aflatoxins

© 2020 J. Csapó et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
mycotoxins, aflatoxins, aflatoxin M1, milk, breast milk, detoxification of mycotoxins, determination of aflatoxins