Recent advances on Alternaria mycotoxins

Some of the secondary metabolites produced by Alternaria species have been recognized potentially harmful for human health due to their toxicity and occurrence in food commodities. Currently, there are no regulations worldwide for these mycotoxins with the exception of Bavarian health and food safety authority who decided to limit at 500 μg/kg the tenuazonic acid content in sorghum/millet-based infant food. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) performed a risk assessment for four of the known Alternaria mycotoxins (alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, tenuazonic acid and tentoxin) and established the threshold for toxicological concern (TTC) for these mycotoxins. In this review recent data on the biological activity, toxicokinetics, human exposure, modified forms and reduction strategies of the prevalent Alternaria mycotoxins are reported.