Detection of mycotoxins contamination in some Egyptian processed meat products and use of plant extracts for its prevention and control

Abstract

Meat and meat products (processed meat) are considered a balanced diet. They are very good sources of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants etc. Meat and meat products provide excellent growth media for a variety of microflora (bacteria, yeasts and molds). The occurrence of fungi and mycotoxins in processed meat products has become of increasing interest because of the widespread use of these types of processed meat as fast food in the world today. So the current study investigated the aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxins associated processed meat products i.e. Basterma, Beef Burger, Luncheon meat and Sausage collected from different companies in Egypt that may be harmful to humans. Also, the objective of this work is to study the efficiency of natural plant extracts i.e. Euphorbia cotinifolia L., Euphorbia tirucalli L. and Rhus coriaria L. as antifungal substrates and study the safety and efficiency of such plant extracts as antioxidant agents in experimental animals.