Mycotoxins and Essential Oils—From a Meat Industry Hazard to a Possible Solution: A Brief Review
Raluca Aniela Gheorghe-Irimia,
Dana Tăpăloagă,
Paul Rodian Tăpăloagă,
Lucian Ionel Ilie,
Cosmin Șonea,
Andreea Iren Serban
Affiliations
Raluca Aniela Gheorghe-Irimia
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, 105 Blvd, Splaiul Independenței, 050097 Bucharest, Romania
Dana Tăpăloagă
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, 105 Blvd, Splaiul Independenței, 050097 Bucharest, Romania
Paul Rodian Tăpăloagă
Faculty of Animal Productions Engineering and Management, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, 59 Blvd, Marasti, 011464 Bucharest, Romania
Lucian Ionel Ilie
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, 105 Blvd, Splaiul Independenței, 050097 Bucharest, Romania
Cosmin Șonea
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, 105 Blvd, Splaiul Independenței, 050097 Bucharest, Romania
Andreea Iren Serban
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, 105 Blvd, Splaiul Independenței, 050097 Bucharest, Romania
The preservation of food supplies has been humankind’s priority since ancient times, and it is arguably more relevant today than ever before. Food sustainability and safety have been heavily prioritized by consumers, producers, and government entities alike. In this regard, filamentous fungi have always been a health hazard due to their contamination of the food substrate with mycotoxins. Additionally, mycotoxins are proven resilient to technological processing. This study aims to identify the main mycotoxins that may occur in the meat and meat products “Farm to Fork” chain, along with their effect on the consumers’ health, and also to identify effective methods of prevention through the use of essential oils (EO). At the same time, the antifungal and antimycotoxigenic potential of essential oils was considered in order to provide an overview of the subject. Targeting the main ways of meat products’ contamination, the use of essential oils with proven in vitro or in situ efficacy against certain fungal species can be an effective alternative if all the associated challenges are addressed (e.g., application methods, suitability for certain products, toxicity).
