Natural Toxins

An agriculture-intensive country should be aware of natural toxins, including both
mycotoxins and cyanotoxins, which are closely associated with the quality of raw
materials, for food safety and industry. The major production chains – corn, wheat,
beef, and broiler chicken – are the top components of agribusiness, and they should
be tracked by reliable and practical tools. The corn chain is of particular concern in
food production; intensive controls, multi-year mycotoxin monitoring, and improved
harmless/sustainable management methods for uninterrupted farming in the tropicsubtropics
are needed to achieve a long-lasting trend. The rapid control of natural
toxins (mycotoxin and cyanotoxin) has focused on immunochemical methods
developed with highly specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb) matched with chromatographic
methods. In parallel, the promising widespread application of nondestructive
analytical methods based on NIR (Near Infrared Reflectance)spectroscopy, computer vision and hyperspectral imaging coupled with multivariate
analyses have been introduced as an alternative for the prediction of quality and
compositional parameters. Rapid quality control and product traceability are
discussed, as well as accurate monitoring, which is essential for potentially launching
an innovative system for food production in Brazil.