Effect of Aflatoxins in Aquaculture: Use of Bentonite Clays as Promising Remedy

Aflatoxins are among all known mycotoxins, the most widespread source of contamination of food and feed throughout the world. In aquaculture and aqua-feed formulations the increased use of plant based materials has intensified the risks of aflatoxicosis in farmed fish because of the high load of aflatoxin by the vegetable sources. The aflatoxins production by toxic fungal strains can take place in the field directly, during different processing stages like insiling, aqua feed formulation, preparation and due to improper feed storage. However, the thermal treatments can only destroy the fungus but have no effect on the heat-resistant mycotoxins present in mycelium and spores of the mold. So, the aflatoxin accumulation in fish meal and fish feed represents a great threat for the aqua-cultured species and ultimately for the consumer's health and safety. Consequently, the issue of aflatoxin contamination in fish and aquaculture industry has intensified. This review focused on the deleterious effects of aflatoxins in fish and aquaculture and the possible remedy by the use of adsorbents.