Developments and trends in mycotoxin analysis: A review with bibliometric research

Abstract

Food safety is crucial for human health, and mycotoxins, produced by fungi, can contaminate food, posing a serious health threat. Understanding mycotoxin production, toxicity mechanisms, and accurate detection is essential for food safety. While many studies have explored these aspects, there is still room for improvement in detection methods for mycotoxins. Taking mycotoxins as an entry point, this paper systematically collected and analyzed mycotoxin-related literatures from mainstream databases by combining bibliometric analysis, revealing the development trend and research focuses in this field, confirming mycotoxin detection methods as the core of this review, and further discussing chromatography-based, spectrometry-based, immunoassay-based, biosensor-based, and other. Research advances and limitations of mycotoxin detection methods, such as high sensitivity versus cumbersome processing for chromatography, low cost for spectroscopy, and high specificity for immunoassays, were further discussed. Emerging technologies like immunoassays and biosensors show promise for rapid and portable detection. Challenges in sample preparation and matrix effects are also discussed. Meanwhile, by analyzing the development trend of mycotoxin detection methods, it is predicted that the future research focus will be mainly on the two aspects of highly sensitive and accurate detection and rapid and accurate on-site detection. This review aims to provide insights for the field’s development, predict future trends in mycotoxin analysis, and enhance food safety and public health protection.