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Mycotoxins, secondary metabolites produced by various fungi, pose a significant threat to food and feed safety worldwide due to their toxic effects on human and animal health. Traditional methods of mycotoxin management often involve chemical treatments, which may raise concerns about residual toxicity and environmental impact. In recent years, there has been growing interest in exploring natural alternatives for preventing mycotoxin contamination and detoxification. This review provides an overview of the current research on the use of natural products for mitigating mycotoxin risks in food and feed. It encompasses a wide range of natural sources, including plant-derived compounds, microbial agents, and enzymatic control. The mechanisms underlying the efficacy of these natural products in inhibiting mycotoxin synthesis, adsorbing mycotoxins, or enhancing detoxification processes are discussed. Challenges and future directions in the development and application of natural products for mycotoxin management are also addressed. Overall, this review highlights the promising role of natural products as sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives for combating mycotoxin contamination in the food and feed supply chain.

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The use of antimicrobial (AM) in animal production is an important contributor to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) worldwide. Animal health professionals should play a key role in ensuring judicious use of AM. However, they are subjected to influence from clinical and non-clinical factors. The present study evaluates the perceptions and concerns of animal health practitioners regarding antimicrobial use (AMU) and prescription practices. A cross-sectional online questionnaire survey was conducted among animal health practitioners, predominantly veterinary doctors (88 %) in 20 African countries. Results showed that the most prescribed and administered AM were tetracycline (66 %) followed by ß-lactams (32 %) and macrolides (25 %). Most respondents were very confident in deciding on the right dose of AM (77 %) and treatment plans (76 %) as compared to choosing the correct AM (52 %) and making an accurate diagnosis (46 %). Self-reported confidence in the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship was significantly influenced by the respondents' work environment, gender and access to information on AM. Lack of diagnostic facilities and susceptibility tests were major hindrances to adequate prescriptions and use of AM. Perceived drivers of AMR identified were excessive prescription by animal health professionals and the use of AM without proper diagnosis. Almost two thirds (62 %) of the respondents had sufficient information on AM when needed while the main source of information was professional training and drug labels. Thus, reinforcement of regional and country-level guidelines and tailored continuing education programs for veterinarians as well as the development of field-friendly disease diagnosis and management tools are essential to considerably improve AMU.

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The use of dietary or medicinal plant based natural compounds to disease treatment has become a unique trend in clinical research. Flavonoids, a group of polyphenolic compounds have drawn significant attention due to their modulatory effects on inflammasomes associated with the initiation and progression of chronic disorders including metabolic, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. In this article, the role of most commonly studied natural flavonoids with their disease-specific impact via inflammasomes as a potential molecular target has been described. Since the role of inflammation is evident in multiple diseases, flavonoids may serve as a promising tool in drug discovery for the intervention of chronic diseases by manipulating the status of inflammation via inflammasome targeting.

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For the first time in Cameroon, this paper reports on multiple mycotoxins occurrences in poultry feeds. Twenty feed samples collected from different poultry farms were analyzed for 320 fungal metabolites by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Results showed feeds contamination by 68 metabolites including 18 mycotoxins/metabolites currently regulated in the European Union such as fumonisins B1 (FB1), B2, and B3; deoxynevalenol (DON); and beta-zearalenol recovered in all samples. FB1 reported highest FB mean level of 468 (range 16-1930) microg kg(-1). Levels of DON and ZEN were mostly concentrated in feeds from western-highlands conversely for FBs and aflatoxins concentrations in Yaounde. Aflatoxin B1 mean level of 40 microg kg(-1) exceeded the worldwide permitted limit for aflatoxins in feed and generally inversely proportional to weight gain in chicken.

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RATIONALE: Mycotoxins regularly occur in food worldwide and pose serious health risks to consumers. Since individuals can be exposed to a variety of these toxic secondary metabolites of fungi at the same time, there is a demand for proper analytical methods to assess human exposure by suitable biomarkers. METHODS: This study reports on the development of a liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) method for the quantitative measurement of 15 mycotoxins and key metabolites in human urine using polarity switching. Deoxynivalenol (DON), DON-3-O-glucuronide, DON-15-O-glucuronide (D15GlcA), de-epoxy DON, nivalenol (NIV), T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, zearalenone, zearalenone-14-O-glucuronide, α- and ß-zearalenol, fumonisins B(1) and B(2) (FB(1), FB(2)), ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxin M(1) (AFM(1)) were determined without the need for any cleanup using a rapid and simple dilute and shoot approach. RESULTS: Validation was performed in the range of 0.005-40 µg L(-1) depending on the analyte and expected urinary concentration levels. Apparent recoveries between 78 and 119% and interday precisions of 2-17% relative standard deviation (RSD) were achieved. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by the analysis of urine samples obtained from Cameroon. In naturally contaminated urine samples up to six biomarkers of exposure (AFM(1), DON, D15GlcA, NIV, FB(1), and OTA) were detected simultaneously. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the developed LC/MS/MS method is well suited to quantify multiple mycotoxin biomarkers in human urine down to the sub-ppb range within 18 min and without any prior cleanup. The co-occurrence of several mycotoxins in the investigated samples clearly emphasizes the great potential and importance of this method to assess exposure of humans and animals to naturally occurring mycotoxins.

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