A sub-Saharan African perspective on mycotoxins in beer – a review

Beer is an alcoholic beverage made from a cereal grain extract and is widely consumed in sub-Saharan Africa and the world at large. However, beer consumption could expose consumers to mycotoxins. In this review, we appraised the different mycotoxins associated with beer contamination, elucidating their structures and incidence in cereals involved in beer production. The common mycotoxins that are found within the brewing process are reviewed. These include aflatoxin B ₁ (AFB ₁ ), fumonisin (FB), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEA) and deoxynivalenol (DON), which are the prime contaminants in beer produced in sub-Saharan Africa. Residual levels of <20% of AFB ₁ , OTA and FB ₂ together with the transformation of ZEA (into a less toxic compound β-zearalenol) can be achieved during the production of beers originating from Europe/America, while >50% of DON and higher ratios of FB ₁ can be recovered in finished beer. Adsorption is the major means of mycotoxin removal during beer production. In contrast, traditional African beer processes show no significant efficient removal of mycotoxins. This is because the prevailing environmental conditions during beer production are favourable to mycotoxigenic fungal proliferation. This subsequently leads to relatively high concentration of mycotoxins in freshly processed beer, with a possible increase during the beer shelf-life owing to the absence of appropriate microbial stabilisation treatments in the finished processed beer.