## 4 Mycotoxins in Food Commodities in Cameroon
### Spices  
Spices are nonleafy parts of the plant that are used in small amounts for food flavoring; they are considered as an essential part of the human diet. Spices are produced mainly in developing countries with tropical climate, where high temperature and humidity facilitate fungal growth and the occurrence of mycotoxins. Few authors reported the contamination of spices in Cameroon. The presence of OTA was detected in 10% of black pepper samples (1.2-1.9 \(\upmu\)g/kg) and 40% of white pepper samples (1.8-4.9 \(\upmu\)g/kg) collected from Yaounde markets [39]. Some authors worked on the prevalence and concentrations of AFs, FBs, and ZEN on seven edible nonmember forest products used as spices (_Irvingia gabonensis, Aframoum melegueta, Afrostyrax lepidophylilus, Ricinodend neuroledotii, Xylopia aethiopica, Monodona myristica_, and _Tetrapleura tetraptera_) [43]. Contamination of 5.56% of samples of _A. lepidophylilus_, 8.33% of samples of _X. aethiopica_, and 11.11% of samples of _1. gabonensis_ was above the regulatory limit (10 ppb). _Ricinodend neuroledotii_, _M. myristica_, and _T. tetraptera_ had AF levels below the regulatory limit. When considering AEZs, all the commodities and AEZs were positive for AF. Occurrence of AFs in _A. melegueta_ and _M. myristica_ was lower in the three AEZs. Over 84% of the samples had detectable levels of AFs, among which only 5.71% were above the regulatory limit. The majority of commodity samples \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l l l l}  & & & \multicolumn{2}{l}{**Myocotoxin**} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{**No.**} & & & & & \\  & & & **(\(\upmu\)g/kg)** & & **Positive** & **References** & **Maximum Level in Food** & **Hazard Index** (QLmax/ML) \\  & & & & **Mean** & **Samples** & & & & \\ \hline _Afrostyrax_ & Center (AEZ 5) & AFs & 2.5 (Nl) & 2 & & & & \\ _lepidophylilus_ & Littoral (AEZ 4) & Fs & 28.23 (Nl) & 0 & [43] & & NA \\ (push onion) & West (AEZ 3) & ZEN & 110.89 (Nl) & 2 & & & \\ _Kichlenendrum_ & Center (AEZ 5) & AFs & 0.63 (Nl) & 0 & & & & \\ _hudoti_ & Littoral (AEZ 4) & Fs & 78.62 (Nl) & 0 & [43] & & NA \\ (Njançng) & West (AEZ 3) & ZEN & 7.84 (Nl) & 0 & & & & NA \\ _XJopia_ & Center (AEZ 5) & AFs & 1.2 (Nl) & 2 & & & \\ _athiopica_ & Littoral (AEZ 4) & Fs & 891.97 (Nl) & 15 & [43] & & NA \\ (guinea pepper) & West (AEZ 3) & ZEN & 219.47 (Nl) & 30 & & & & \\ _Mondora_ & Center (AEZ 5) & AFs & 0.7 (Nl) & 0 & & & \\ _myristica_ & Center (AEZ 4) & Fs & 6.52 (Nl) & 0 & [43] & & NA \\ (African martme) & West (AEZ 3) & ZEN & 110.89 (Nl) & 20 & & & \\ _Terraptera_ & Center (AEZ 5) & AFs & 0.9 (Nl) & 0 & & & \\ _tetraptura_ (Gum) & Littoral (AEZ 4) & Fs & 437.08 (Nl) & 2 & [43] & & NA \\ tree) & West (AEZ 3) & ZEN & 52.56 (Nl) & 0 & & & \\ Vegetable oil & Littoral (AEZ 4) & Sterigmatocystin & 0.2 & & & & NA \\ (cottonse oil) & North (AEZ 1) & 0.7 & & & & & NA \\ Tlapia & Center (AEZ 5) & AFs & 4.48 (0.26-8.64) & 34 & [20] & 20 & AFs: 0.43 \\  & West (AEZ 3) & AFB1 & 2.23 (0.13-4.32) & & & & \\ Kanga & Center (AEZ 5) & AFs & 5.84 (0.21-11.46) & 34 & [20] & 20 & AFs: 0.57 \\  & West (AEZ 3) & AFB1 & 2.82 (0.10-5.59) & 34 & [20] & 20 & AFs: 0.57 \\  & Center (AEZ 5) & AFs & 11.93 & & & & \\  & West (AEZ 3) & AFB1 & (6.56-17.35) & 34 & [20] & 20 & AFs: 0.86 \\  & & & 5.87 (0.37-8.67) & & & & \\ Catfish & Center (AEZ 5) & AFs & 17.72 & & & & \\  & West (AEZ 3) & AFB1 & (3.62-31.38) & 34 & [20] & 20 & AFs: 1.56 \\  & & & 8.81 (11-51.69) & & & & \\  & & & FB1 & 468 (16-1930) & & & 1000 \(\upmu\)g/kg & FB1: 1.93 \\  & & & DON & 164 (19–495) & & 100 \(\upmu\)g/kg & DON: 4.95 \\  & & ZEN & 4.7 (0.3–28) & & & 100 \(\upmu\)g/kg & ZEN: 0.28 \\  & & & AFB1 & 40 & & & 20 \(\upmu\)g/kg & ZEN: 0.28 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: _Cont._(94.28%) were safe for human consumption. Fumonisin was not detected in _I. galonensis_ and _M. myristica_ samples. The level of FBs was significantly higher in samples of _X. aethiopica_ (891.97 ug/kg) followed by _T. tetraptera_ (437.08 ug/kg). All samples of _X. aethiopica_ had FB content above 100 ug/kg.