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Abstract
Fumonisins are a class of mycotoxins that are produced by Fusarium moniliforme, Fusarium prolifratume and Fusarium nygamai. In 1980, Marasas detected fumonisins as one of the reasons for esophageal cancer regarding many people in South Africa. Fumonisins occur because of these two groups of factors: non-biological factors and biological factors. Fumonisins’ structure is similar to sphingolipid, and this toxin in high concentrations inhibits ceramide synthase that is an important enzyme in the de novo pathway of sphingolipid biosynthesis. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified this toxin as a group 2B carcinogen. Consuming any food that is contaminated by this toxin will cause different diseases in animals and humans. This review explains incidence, mechanism of action and toxicity rate and biochemical structure of fumonisins.