2.2 TARGETED ANALYSIS OF FUSARIC ACID, FUSARIN C, FUMONISIN B1, B2 AND B3 UNVEILS TOXIN PRODUCING ABILITIES OF MYCOTOXIGENIC FUSARIUM SPECIES IN BELGIUM

Over the past years, it was demonstrated that Fusarium species can produce mycotoxins such as fusarin C, fusaric acid, FB1, FB2 and FB3. Fig. 2.4 presents the chemical structures of these mycotoxins. FBs are a group of important mycotoxins and they are frequently found in different foods and feedstuff. Due to the high toxicity and widespread occurrence, various regulations have been set for FBs around the world (See Chapter 1.1. 4). Fusarin C has demonstrated mutagenic activity and immunosuppresive effects comparable to those of AB1 and STC 23. It has also been reported that fusarin C stimulates growth of the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and can act as an estrogenic agonist 24. Fusaric acid is considered to be directly related to the severity of damping-off, vascular wilt and root rot diseases of numerous vegetable crops 25, 26. In addition to the critical roles in plant pathogenesis, fusaric acid can be mildly toxic to some animals such as rat 27. Furthermore, since fusaric acid can increase the overall toxicity of other mycotoxins, the synergistic interactions with other naturally co-occurring mycotoxins deserve further attention 25.