Chapters authored
Cunninghamella bertholletiae’s Toxins from Decomposing Cassava: Mitigation Strategy for Toxin Reduction Using Nepenthes mirabilis ‘Monkey Cup’ Digestive Fluids
A fermentation technique was utilised to assess a fungus, i.e. Cunninghamella bertholletiae/polymorpha, isolated from rotting cassava, ability to produce mycotoxins and resultant oxidation by-products of the mycotoxins using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Thus, the mycotoxins/secondary metabolites, fumonisin B1 (FB1) and deoxynivalenol (DON) were produced while, heptadecanone, octadecanamide, octadecenal and 3-keto-deoxynivalenol (DON) were successfully identified as biodegradation by-products in the fermentation broth treated with hydrolysing ‘monkey cup’ juice from Nepenthes mirabilis. Exposure to the mycotoxins and the biodegradation by-products through consumption of contaminated produce including contact due to the cumulative presence in arable agricultural soil can be harmful to humans and animals. Therefore, this work reports on a strategy for the mitigation and reduction of mycotoxins in agricultural soil using natural plant pitcher juices from N. mirabilis’ ‘monkey cup’.
Part of the book: Mycotoxins and Food Safety
Medicinal Plants Threatened by Undocumented Emerging Pollutants: The Sub-Saharan African Viewpoint
The history of medicinal plants on the African continent is huge, the oldest and probably the most diverse, for there are thousands of spoken languages, in the sub-Saharan African region, that are used during the traditional practices that utilize medicinal plants for healing purposes. However, our lines of research have exhibited a potential unprecedented threat to this remarkable history of African medicinal plants by emerging pollutants, the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), which are yet to be efficiently and sufficiently reported and documented on in this region. Accordingly, this review chapter reports on sub-Saharan African medicinal plants with the aim of highlighting how undocumented PFASs, in this region, present a huge threat to the extraordinary diversity of these plants and the therapy that they have assisted the low-income populations of this region with for centuries. Thus, we recommend appropriate and regular assessments and monitoring of PFASs, particularly perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) the most studied of these substances and their substitutes, in medicinal plants of the region, for these chemicals have been scientifically proven to be associated to numerous health concerns. The region should also consider properly regulating these compounds.
Part of the book: Medicinal Plants