Mycotoxins and bioactive metabolites from Fusarium: prospect of their importance in Brazil

Abstract

Fusarium sp is a fungus widely spread present in nature, associated with human and animal intoxications as consequence of mycotoxins production. On the other hand, this fungal specie is also able to produce bioactive metabolites with good perspective in biotechnology application. This review discusses aboutzearalenone, trichothecenes, and the recently, characterized Fusarium toxins represented by moniliformin, fusarin and fumonisin; the importance of these toxins in animal mycotoxicoses, and the danger of human contamination as well as the Brazilian potential for the research to bioative products from Fusarim sp.