Climate change and mycotoxin contamination in Central Europe : an overview of recent findings

Abstract

Climate change accompanied by global warming affects food security and food safety at different levels.
Climate change has a direct impact on local weather conditions. Higher temperatures and elevated humidity
or drought will increase the infection of crops by different fungi and therefore increase the probability of
mycotoxin occurrence. Fungi have optimum temperature ranges within which they can infect agricultural
crops more severely. Increasing average temperatures could lead to changes in the range of latitudes at which
certain fungi are able to compete. The production of several mycotoxins including aflatoxins, ochratoxins or
fumonisins is favored by moisture and high temperature. Recently, several papers have dealt with the effects
of global warming caused by climate change on the appearance of mycotoxin producing fungi and
mycotoxins in agricultural products. In this review, we wish to give a general overview on the potential
effects of climate change on the occurrence of mycotoxin producing fungi and their mycotoxins in Central
Europe.