Trichothecenes - Literature Review.

During the past century, documented outbreaks of massive intoxication and death, resulting from mycotoxin-infected foodstuffs all over the world, have been recorded in the literature. The data, show that the mycotoxin-producing fungi are pathogens found in various plants and in the fruit that they bear. These mycotoxins from the Greek word mykes meaning fungus and the Latin word toxicum meaning poison are a threat to the well-being of humans and animals. The mycotoxins chosen for concentrated review in the report are the trichothecenes because the majority of the work performed to date with the possible exception of the aflatoxins has been associated with the thrichothecenes in the agricultural, chemical, biological, and toxicological fields. However, a sampling of other naturally occurring mycotoxin compounds and a brief review of each are presented. Due to not only the toxic properties but also the carcinogenic of therapeutic potential of the naturally occurring compounds discussed in this report, extensive scientific work has been done for decades. The scientific community continues to address the problem in order to control the occurrence of the toxins in human and animal food sources, including the possibility of long-term exposure to foodstuffs. This literature review attempts to supply a concise information source as an aid ot investigators faced with problems of thrichothecene detection, analysis, and decontamination.