Mycotoxins Contamination in Tea and Herbal Infusion: A Mini-Review

Consumption of tea and herbal teas is increasing worldwide due to their beneficial substances and daily antioxidant properties. However, in unfavorable environmental conditions, biological contamination can occur and cause a variety of diseases in humans and animals. In the meantime, fungal infection is of special importance as it produces secondary metabolites (mycotoxins). Mycotoxins affect various tissues of the body and their acute and chronic toxic effects can have serious problems for public health. Health risk varies in terms of mycotoxins and depends primarily on the geographical area and economic status of the population. This review examines the published articles about determining the presence of mycotoxins in herbal teas and teas and transfer to infusions 1997-2019 using high technique apparatus. The collected information was obtained from PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science. This review decided to investigate the mycotoxins levels in tea and herbal tea and then consider different and effective proposed methods of removing or reducing mycotoxins.