Date: 21 August - 1 September 2023
Duration: 2 weeks
Venue: NMISA Training Center, Building 4, CSIR Campus, Pretoria
Course Objectives
Supporting sustainable agricultural practices, ecosystem health and exports through accurate measurement. The European Union imports approximately 140 billion euro’s worth of goods from Africa annually. Agriculture is a crucial economic driver across the African continent. Not only due to the value of the export market, approximately 20 000 million euro, but due to the level of job creation in this sector. In addition to its importance economically, agriculture also ensures the continents food security and self-sustainability. One of the factors that can negatively affect both the aspects is food contaminants.
Mycotoxins are a group of food contaminants that consist of secondary fungal metabolites. The toxicity of these compounds is of universal concern as they are present in a host of commodities including grains, grain products, fruits, root vegetables and nuts. Additionally, the presence of mycotoxins in animal feed can also influence livestock and associated food products such as milk.
Mycotoxins are particularly challenging to analyse, due to their presence in such a large variety of matrices. They have varying chemistries, including polarities. Furthermore, the exact mix of mycotoxins that are of relevance to a commodity may be strongly influenced by the environment, farming practices, and storage conditions as well as the seasonal fungal prevalence.