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Essay / Fungal and mycotoxin contamination in stored chews
A range of diverse food sources are necessary to safeguard and maintain human health. Among them, vegetable chews, viz. Phyllanthus emblica, Terminalia chebula, Terminalia bellirica, Piper betel, Areca catechu, Elettaria cardamomum and Nicotiana tabacum etc. significantly impart nutritional and medicinal security to humanity, making it traditionally useful throughout the world, especially in Asian continents. Despite its beneficial effects, its consumption causes serious health problems due to mold and contamination with their toxic metabolites during storage and transportation after harvest. Additionally, traditional storage practices and compatible environmental conditions make chews prone to fungal and mycotoxin contamination, leading to their qualitative and quantitative deterioration. Although during postharvest storage a number of initiatives are underway to protect raw masticates from fungal and parasitic contamination, their nutritional and medicinal safety remains a concern. Not only in developing countries, but also in developed countries, developed countries also suffer from dangerous toxic metabolites from molds present in stored food products. Among molds and their toxic metabolites (mycotoxins), aflatoxins are the most common during storage, causing significant economic losses. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay This problem is quite evident in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, where humidity and warm temperature encourage frequent fungal growth and the secretion of aflatoxins. Chews exposed to fungi associated with mycotoxins become unfit for human consumption, as they increase the risk of liver cancer. Piper Betel leaf is one of the most commonly used chewing products by people all over the world, including the United States and the United Kingdom, but during its storage and transportation, fungal contaminations are common, and about 35-70% post-harvest storage losses have been reported due to fungi. contamination. Among all reported types of aflatoxins, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is extremely toxic, immunosuppressive, genotoxic, carcinogenic, liver cirrhosis, tumor induction and teratogenesis in animals and humans. International Agency for Research on Cancer classified as Group I human carcinogen. Additionally, Li et al. , (2018) suggested that the carcinogenic nature of AFB1 is due to the double binding of furan terminal rings (carcinogenic site), which influences epigenetic mechanisms, including alterations in DNA methylation and changes in histones. Furthermore, AFB1 is capable of inducing thymic aplasia. , reduces the number of T lymphocytes and thus suppresses phagocytic activity. The immunosuppressive effects of aflatoxin can affect the unborn fetus, as they can spread across the porcine placenta. According to a report by Yabe & Nakajima; (2004) in China and sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 2.5 deaths per lac occurred annually due to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to high concentrations of endemic aflatoxins. AFB1 contamination of stored food products cannot be removed even after heat treatment at 100 °C, so it is considered an inevitable contaminant of food products and known to be a highly stable compound. Keep in mind: this is not.