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Aflatoxin in Rice Crop: Prevalence and Assessment of Daily Exposure

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Fungal Metabolites

Part of the book series: Reference Series in Phytochemistry ((RSP))

Abstract

Aflatoxin B1 is one of the most hepatocarcinogenic naturally occurring compounds known, produced by toxic species of fungi in different types of food including rice. The contamination of food with this toxin could lead to a series of health problems and huge economic losses. Rice is the second largest quantity staple food and internationally traded cereal. Aflatoxin is produced in areas where climatic conditions are favorable to fungal growth and the production of aflatoxin affects plant growth and rice yield. The aim of this review article is to show and explain the levels of aflatoxin contamination of rice worldwide during the period 2004–2014. In general, aflatoxin levels in rice are low and vary from country to country. However, the high daily intake of rice makes even these lower levels of concern, as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is carcinogenic and has been correlated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence in some countries. In addition to the increased distribution of aflatoxins in rice being addressed, the analytical procedures and the local and global permissible limits for aflatoxins are presented and discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thanks Taylor & Francis Ltd. (http://www.tandfonline.com), and more specifically journal of Toxin Reviews, as the core of work has built on the cited paper [49], also for the permission to reprint Table 3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science, Committee on Radiation and Environmental Pollution Protection, Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), P.O. Box 90905, 11623, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Amin O. Elzupir & Abdulaziz S. Alamer

  2. Central Laboratory, Ministry of Sciences and Technology, Khartoum, 12211, Sudan

    Amin O. Elzupir

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, Food, Environment and Health Research Group, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 17011, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Michael F. Dutton

Authors
  1. Amin O. Elzupir
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  2. Abdulaziz S. Alamer
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  3. Michael F. Dutton
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Correspondence to Amin O. Elzupir .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

    Jean-Michel Mérillon

  2. Botany Department, M.L.Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

    Kishan Gopal Ramawat

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Elzupir, A.O., Alamer, A.S., Dutton, M.F. (2017). Aflatoxin in Rice Crop: Prevalence and Assessment of Daily Exposure. In: Mérillon, JM., Ramawat, K. (eds) Fungal Metabolites. Reference Series in Phytochemistry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25001-4_5

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