Acute Toxicity of Mycotoxigenic Fungi Isolates in Ready-to-Eat Meat in Buea, Cameroon

Introduction: Meat is an important source of nutrition for many people worldwide. Away from homes, it is widely consumed in restaurants (e.g. small roadside) and non-restaurants (including drinking parlors and open-air)in various forms assnack. Objective: This paper reports on the acute toxicity of mycotoxigenic fungi isolates from various ready-to-eat meat from Buea, Cameroon. Method: Ten varieties of ready-to-eat meat samples (N=130: raw beef (n=18), beef soya (n=29), fried chicken (n=11), chicken soya (n=10), snail soya (n=13), fried pork (n=06), fried cow liver (n=13), roasted goat (n=06), boiled cow skin (n=07) and smoked beef (n=17).were collected from Buea municipality. The samples were cultures, and fungal isolates isolated microscopically. Thereafter, an acute toxicity test using 24 young BALB/c mice (weight range: 22-25g) was performed. Results: A total of 40 mycotoxigenic fungi belonging to five genera (Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Rhizomucor, and Rhizopus) were identified. The most dominant species was Aspergillus (unidentified Aspergillus species, 23.1%; and Aspergillus ochraceus,10.3%).The order of Aspergillus fungi proliferation were roasted goat liver(20%), fried chicken (20%), snails soya (20%)ean body weight of test mice significantly decreased (p<0.05) after the first 7 days of feeding with a mycotoxigenic fungi-supplemented diet relative to control mice that ate healthy diets. Aspartate Transaminase (AST, range: 169.9-563.1U/L) and Alanine Transaminase (ALT, range:521.1-707.5U/L) levels were significantly (p<0.05) higher than the reference values for healthy mice (range: 60-100U/L for AST and 25-6U/L for ALT). Conclusion: Given the toxicity potentials of mycotoxigenic fungi, e.g. production of toxic secondary metabolites, not reported in this paper, and demonstrated by the liver toxicity/function test, ready-to-eat meat in Buea, Cameroon may not be adequately safe for consumption.