Sustainable Means of Combating Mycotoxins in Grains Used for Livestock

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

All microorganisms are ubiquitous in nature and their interactions with plants, and animals and humans has been recognized for centuries. Some of these interactions are beneficial to the host as in the case of biotransformation such as fermentation and the production of antibiotics. Penicillin, which is one the most famous antibiotics drugs in the world, derived from a common fungus known as Penicillium and it is used to control disease in human and animal populations. Another example is nitrogen fixating bacteria Rhizobium Azolla which help in ensuring that plant grow properly. While some play important roles in the environment through biodegradation and decomposition of organic materials which help in maintaining a balanced ecosystem, others help in maintaining a symbiotic relationship with prokaryotes, plants and animals according to Galangan et al. (2005). Others include strains of cellulomonas which aids digestion of cell materials in animal gastrointestinal tracts. Fungi along sides bacteria are responsible for most of the recycling which degrade dead materials back to minerals, a form which can be utilized in the soil, this way it is reusable by plants. Fungi are also important for the good growth of most plants including crops, through the development of mycorrhizal associations which is beneficial to both the fungi and trees. The fungi extracts food needed from the plants but in return supply the plants with some nutrients and water they may need. This relationship is known as symbiosis. However, this relationship between fungi and their host could be extremely detrimental to the host, thereby causing disease in plants, animals and humans as well as food and feed spoilage and poisoning (Bassapa, 2009). Amongst the microorganisms, the over 1.5 million members of the fungi (mould) family have assumed great economic importance in the biosphere e. They cause spoilage of food during the pre and post-harvest stages of production, resulting in large losses and wastage of stored food, especially in those containing a high level of moisture, producing various toxins on them called mycotoxins (Bassapa, 2009)   mycotoxins are a group of structurally diverse and naturally occurring secondary fungal metabolites produced by certain moulds that contaminate various agricultural products. This could be at pre harvest or post-harvest stages of crop production. (Heidtmann-Bernvenuti et al., 2011). They are a group of toxic compounds detected in the 1960s (Asao et al.,1965) known as bifuranocoumarines. they do not belong to a single class of chemical compound and they differ in their toxicological effects. These toxins are ingested inadvertently by humans and animals through food or feed respectively and are now known to cause health hazards leading to economic loses as demonstrated by devastating impacts of mycoses, plant disease and mycotoxin (Moss, 1987. Such effects remained by and large unrecognized, until the startling discovery of aflaxtoxins in 1960.