REVIEW article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Aquatic Foods
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1609489
This article is part of the Research TopicAchieving Sustainable Aquatic Food Systems in a Changing Climate: Building Resilience through Blue TransformationView all articles
Mapping global research on mycotoxins in aquafeed from scientometric and critical perspectives
Provisionally accepted
Menaga Meenakshisundaram1*
Sudarshan Shanmugam2
Jimmy Brian Mboya1*Felix Sugantham2
Kevin Obiero3
Dr Jonathan Munguti3Sunday Ekesi1
Sevgan Subramanian1Shaphan Chia1
Dennis Beesigamukama1Rodrigue Yossa4
Chrysantus Tanga1- 1International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya
- 2Tamil Nadu Fisheries University, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India
- 3Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Mombasa, Kenya
- 4WorldFish (Malaysia), Penang, Malaysia
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The global significance of mycotoxins in aquaculture is evident. However, regional vulnerabilities, effects, and inconsistent regulations on mycotoxin contamination remain underexplored. This study integrates a scientometric analysis of research on mycotoxins in aquafeed, published from 1992-2023 in Web of Science, with a conventional review of their occurrence in aquafeed and feed ingredients. Bibliometric tools, VOSviewer, and biblioshiny, were used to analyze global research trends, collaborations, and themes. We found a total of 181 publications, authored by 938 researchers from 49 countries, with Brazil leading (25 publications). The Toxins journal accounted for the most publications (23). Aflatoxins, particularly aflatoxin B1, were the most reported mycotoxins, alongside fumonisins, deoxynivalenol, and zearalenone. Mycotoxin occurrence was highest in tropical regions, particularly in East African countries (aflatoxins, fumonisins, deoxynivalenol, acetyldeoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, roquefortine C, alternariol, T-2 toxin, zearalenone, and zivalenol), and the Southeast Asian countries (aflatoxins, fumonisins, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and ochratoxin A), where climatic conditions exacerbate fungal growth and mycotoxin production. The findings highlight the global regulations on mycotoxins, the risks associated with the different mycotoxins, and their effects on the health of fish and humans.Our findings emphasize the need for stringent monitoring and regulation of mycotoxins in aquafeeds. Future research should focus on developing effective mitigation strategies and understanding the regional variations in mycotoxin prevalence to safeguard aquaculture productivity and consumer health.
Keywords: aflatoxin, Aquaculture, Aquafeed, bibliometric analysis, Feed ingredients, mycotoxin
Received: 10 Apr 2025; Accepted: 15 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Meenakshisundaram, Shanmugam, Mboya, Sugantham, Obiero, Munguti, Ekesi, Subramanian, Chia, Beesigamukama, Yossa and Tanga. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Menaga Meenakshisundaram, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya
Jimmy Brian Mboya, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.