321 Fumonisins: History, biology, and significance.

BAHRAM GRAMI. American Association of Cereal Chemists, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121-2097.

Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by the fungi Fusarium moniliforme and F. proliferatum. These are common and widely-distributed pathogens that infect corn plants and cause root, stalk, and kernel rots. In the early 1900s, it was observed in the United States that these toxic substances cause severe fatal diseases in livestock, as the results of ingestion of “moldy” corn. The toxic substance can be also found in asymptomatic kernels. Other species of Fusarium cause scab (blight) diseases in wheat and barley, and may produce other forms of mycotoxins. The search for the possible cause of high incidence of human esophageal cancer in some regions of southern Africa, where corn is staple food, led to the discovery of fumonisins in 1988 by South African researchers. Since then, more than 10 fumonisins have been identified. The most prevalent form, fumonisin B1, has been detected in random samples of whole corn and corn products.