Mexico City— In the world they proliferate 300 to 400 “toxic substances” produced by fungi, which cause “5 to 30 % of cases of cancer In the liver, ”Mexican scientist Sara Esther Valdés said Saturday.
The academic of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) mentioned that these toxic compounds are known as “mycotoxins”and which derive from the “secondary metabolism of true fungi (diverse group of organisms of the Fungi kingdom).”
In addition, he warned that they are generated naturally by some “types of molds”, mainly the genres Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium.
On the propagation habitat of these substances, Valdés warned that they have the ability to settle in food, especially in favorable humidity environments where they create “harmful metabolites to the human being and the animals that consume contaminated food.”
He even pointed out that aflatoxins – a type of mycotoxins that occur in crops such as corn or peanuts – are the most studied since they could be “carcinogenic in the long term”.
He also pointed out that “Grain infection can happen at any stage: during its cultivation, harvest, processing, transport and sale”.
This problem exceeds the domestic environment, then The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 25% of global grain crops are affected by mycotoxins, which represents important losses in the field, combined with economic losses of billions of dollars annually.
“The authorities around the world have worried about having a regulation that sets the maximum levels allowed to protect consumers; however, it is only respected by the serious industry, since small producers do not even know their existence, except the effective way to control their presence,” he said.
Among the most frequent poisoning for mycotoxins is cancer (long -term), mutagenicity – which refers to alterations in the structure of genetic material – as well as estrogenic, gastrointestinal, urogenite, vascular, renal and nervous disorders.
He also stressed that “some are immunosuppressive (which weaken the immune system), so they could reduce resistance to infectious diseases.”
Valdés recommended that for “Avoid your domestic reproduction” It is necessary to store food in clean containers and refrigerate them, plan the purchase to prevent waste, as well as keep the kitchen neat without dishes with food waste to avoid spores vehicle.
“The spores, like the seeds of contaminated agricultural inputs, are organisms in a latent state, the fungus produces them when the nutrients from the environment in which they find themselves have been exhausted And they are dispersed by air, they germinate as well as the seeds, finding the appropriate conditions, ”he concluded.