Fusarium Toxins in Chinese Wheat since the 1980s

• Published in: Toxins Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 248
• Main Authors: Qiu, Jianbo, Xu, Jianhong, Shi, Jianrong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 30.04.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Animal feed; Animals; Blight; China; Consumption; Contamination; Crop production; Disease; Epidemics; Esophageal cancer; Feeds; Flour; Food; Food contamination; Food contamination & poisoning; Food Contamination - prevention & control; Food poisoning; Food safety; Fungal diseases; Fusarium; Fusarium - genetics; Fusarium head blight; Fusarium species; Fusarium toxins; Humans; Intoxication; Metabolites; mycotoxicoses; Mycotoxicosis; Mycotoxins; Mycotoxins - analysis; Mycotoxins - toxicity; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant Diseases - prevention & control; Product safety; Provinces; Raw materials; Review; toxin management; Toxins; Triticum - chemistry; Triticum - microbiology; Wheat; China; Henan China; toxin management; wheat; Fusarium species; China; Fusarium toxins; mycotoxicoses
• ISSN: 2072-6651; 2072-6651
• DOI: 10.3390/toxins11050248

Wheat Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium species, is a widespread and destructive fungal disease. In addition to the substantial yield and revenue losses, diseased grains are often contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins, making them unsuitable for human consumption or use as animal feed. As a vital food and feed ingredient in China, the quality and safety of wheat and its products have gained growing attention from consumers, producers, scientists, and policymakers. This review supplies detailed data about the occurrence of Fusarium toxins and related intoxications from the 1980s to the present. Despite the serious situation of toxin contamination in wheat, the concentration of toxins in flour is usually lower than that in raw materials, and food-poisoning incidents have been considerably reduced. Much work has been conducted on every phase of toxin production and wheat circulation by scientific researchers. Regulations for maximum contamination limits have been established in recent years and play a substantial role in ensuring the stability of the national economy and people’s livelihoods.