Toxigenic fungi and food security issues (review)
Infection of crops with toxigenic fungi and the accumulation of mycotoxins hazardous to human and animal health in plant products pose a serious threat to the food security of Russia. The main producers of economically important mycotoxins are fungi from the genera Fusarium, Alternaria, Penicillium, and Aspergillus. Moreover, not all isolates of potentially dangerous species of these genera are capable of producing aflatoxins; therefore, their biosynthesis is not a process necessary for the development of producing fungi. The urgency of this problem is evidenced, for example, by the fact that in samples from the Moscow region (2013), Fusarium fungi were found in 171 out of 239 samples (71.5%), while the infestation was often very significant. In 2014, the prevalence of T-2 toxin in the meadow grasses of the Moscow region was 54%; deoxynivalenol (DON) - 19%; zearalenone - 21%; fumonisins - 4%. Their content varied in the intervals of 3-795 ug/kg, 78-930 ug/kg, 25-5750 ug/kg, and 66-300 ug/kg, respectively. The absence of highly effective approaches to neutralizing the problem of contamination of crops with toxigenic fungi propels the search for new promising methods and technologies for maintaining product quality. Recommendations on constant monitoring of the phytosanitary situation in crops, careful mycological and mycotoxicological control of agricultural products, and generally accepted protective and agrotechnical measures remain relevant. At the same time, it seems promising to use the methods developed by Russian scientists to control the accumulation of mycotoxins using biological and chemical preparations capable of blocking the biosynthesis of toxins or transforming them into less toxic compounds.