Video: Don’t ignore aflatoxin contamination in pulses

By Anthony Wenndt, PhD scholar (Fungal biology), Cornell University, USA.

Research on contamination by aflatoxin and other mycotoxins has been concentrated in cereal grains, ignoring pulses, vegetables and fruits. Consumed daily by millions, pulses do contain a small concentration of mycotoxins, which when consumed regularly can lead to health issues in the long run. Research must therefore focus on pulses too and also factor in the entire food system and value chain from field to market and the pantry as well as social class, geography and storage conditions.

This video is one in a series created by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) for the International Year of Pulses. Pulses including pigeonpeas and chickpeas are some of the mandate crops of ICRISAT. Research focus is on (a) improved grain quality, nutritional traits, food safety, nitrogen fixing properties, hybrids, and (b) drought tolerance and adaptation to diverse dryland agroecosystems and to differing rotations with cereal crops. Breeding is enhanced with modern genomic and molecular tools, precise phenotyping and crop simulation modeling. ICRISAT works along the whole value chain of pulses in an integrated manner to create a win-win situation for the farmer, consumer and the planet.

The views expressed here belong to the speaker and do not necessarily represent FAO’s views, positions, strategies or opinions.