Scientists at the Michigan State University are predicting the impact of climate change on crops, such as maize, as it continues to affect weather patterns throughout the world, including the Midwest.
Aspergillus spp., the aflatoxin-producing fungus, is extensively distributed in nature and has severely polluted human and animal food sources, resulting in health risks and even death.
As a result, there is a high demand for aflatoxins research to develop appropriate methods for their measurement, precision detection, and management to safeguard the health of consumers.
Increase of aflatoxin due to climate change
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According to Felicia Wu, a John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor and a worldwide expert on food standards in the Departments of Food Science and Human Nutrition and Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at MSU, the United States is the world's largest exporter and donor of field corn.
People consume field corn in the guise of corn chips, corn flakes, corn grits, and corn tortillas in the United States, in a contrast to sweet corn, which is frozen, canned, and eaten from the cob.
Field corn is also used to make animal feed and ethanol, as per ScienceDaily.
Aflatoxin is produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus and may infect peanuts, tree nuts, and maize.
Aflatoxin not only affects maize quality but can also cause health concerns in humans and other animals based on the quantity and duration of exposure.
Aflatoxin pollution occurs on a yearly basis in the southern United States due to the hot and dry environment, but it has seldom been a severe concern in the Corn Belt region of the United States.
Fungi spores become airborne in hot and dry circumstances, increasing their chances of infecting crops.
Water assists plants in coping with stress, which renders them prone to dangerous fungus.
Growers, grain elevators, and processors can limit the danger of aflatoxin contamination by storing corn harvests in cold, dry conditions and irrigating fields as much as feasible given diminishing water tables.
Scientists have already been developing hybrid plants that can tolerate drought, insect infestation, and fungal diseases using both biotechnological and traditional breeding approaches.
Corn growers in several regions of the globe are employing biocontrol to prevent aflatoxin.
Biological control involves infecting plants with Aspergillus fungus that are unable to make aflatoxin because they compete with the fungi that can.
A severe epidemic of hepatitis caused by aflatoxin was recorded in the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan in 1974, killing an estimated 106 people.
The outbreak lasted two months and was limited to native tribes whose major staple food, maize, was subsequently shown to be contaminated with aflatoxin.
The preliminary investigation confirmed that A. Flavus had taken place.
In 1974, the second epidemic of aflatoxin affecting both people and canines was observed in northwest India.
Multiple aflatoxicosis outbreaks have been recorded globally since 2004, resulting in 500 acute illnesses and 200 fatalities.
The majority of outbreaks were recorded in rural parts of Kenya's East Province in 2004 and were caused by the ingestion of mold-contaminated homegrown corn.
As reported in 1981, preliminary testing of food from impacted areas confirmed the presence of aflatoxin.
In 2013, many European nations, notably Romania, Serbia, and Croatia, reported widespread aflatoxin poisoning in milk.
