Groundnuts, which are widely consumed in West Africa, are prone to contamination by aflatoxin during production and storage. Although aflatoxin plays a role in many of the important health risks in developing countries, individuals and governments ignore the risks because their health effects are not immediate. In the developed world strong regulations remove contaminated kernels and their products from the food systems. The objective of this paper is to examine production and marketing practices, particularly grading methods, in Ghana’s groundnut value chain to obtain a clear understanding of the sources and levels of aflatoxin contamination in the crop and how such contamination can be sharply reduced.

This book is an outcome of the MycoGlobe conference in Accra. Most of the chapters are based on invited oral presentations made at the conference. The chapters in this book touch on issues including health, trade, ecology, epidemiology, occurrence, detection, management, awareness and policy. This book serves as a source of information on the occurrence and impact of mycotoxins on everything from trade and health to agricultural production in addition to suggesting opportunities for their management in Africa and elsewhere by researchers, policy makers and development investors.

This Edited Volume Mycotoxins - Impact and Management Strategies is a collection of reviewed and relevant research chapters, offering a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the field of Mycotoxicology. The book comprises of single chapters authored by various researchers and edited by an expert active in this research area. This book is divided into three sections. Section 1 consists of one chapter that gives an overview of the socioeconomic impact of mycotoxins. Section 2 has five chapters that address the prevention and control of aflatoxins both at pre- and post-harvest stages. Section 3 has two chapters that deal with health impact and control in the poultry industry. This publication aims at providing a thorough overview of the latest research efforts in the field and opens new possible research paths for further novel developments in addressing the problem of mycotoxins.

Cereal grain safety from farm to table Mycotoxin Reduction in Grain Chains examines the ways in which food producers, inspectors, and processors can keep our food supply safe. Providing guidance on identification, eradication, and prevention at each stop on the "grain chain, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone who works with cereal grains. Discussions include breeding and crop management, chemical control, contamination prediction, and more for maize, wheat, sorghum, rice, and other major grains. Relevant and practical in the field, the lab, and on the production floor, this book features critical guidance for every point from farm to table.

Aflatoxins are a group of highly toxic and carcinogenic substances, which occur naturally, and can be found in food substances. Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of certain strains of the fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus and the less common A. nomius. Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 are the most important members, which can be categorized into two groups according to the chemical structure. As a result of the adverse health effects of mycotoxins, their levels have been strictly regulated especially in food and feed samples. Therefore, their accurate identification and determination remain a Herculean task due to their presence in complex food matrices. The great public concern and the strict legislation incited the development of reliable, specific, selective, and sensitive analytical methods for pesticide monitoring that are discussed in this book.

This book provides information on the incidence of fungi and mycotoxins in some African countries, the health implications and possible intervention control strategies for mycotoxins in developing countries and in Africa in particular. It will therefore be of interest to students, educators, researchers and policy makers in the fields of medicine, agriculture, food science and technology, trade and economics. Food regulatory officers also have quite a lot to learn from the book. Although a lot of the generated data in the area of mycotoxicology are available to the developed world, information on the subject area from Africa is scanty and not usually available in a comprehensive form. This book attempts to address the gap. Being an open access book, it will be of great benefit to scientists in developing countries who have limited access to information due to lack of funds to pay or subscribe for high quality journals and data from commercial publishing and database companies.

This book consists of 11 chapters, divided into four parts. The chapters are written by experts in the field of aflatoxins. Select topics are presented here to provide a snapshot of current understanding of the occurrence and metabolism of aflatoxin B1, the contamination, exposure, and detection of aflatoxin B1, and the toxicological effects and detoxification of aflatoxin. The book is intended for students and scientists working in the field of aflatoxins.