**Preface to "Rapid Detection of Mycotoxin Contamination"**

Mycotoxin occurrence in crops and subsequent contamination in food and feed is currently a major concern in environmental and food safety, affecting both crop production and animal husbandry. In turn, rapid detection of mycotoxin levels in food and feed, as well as in other biological and environmental matrices, is of key importance both in mycotoxin monitoring and exposure assessment. Recent developments, utilization, evaluation, and possible improvements of methods that allow rapid, sensitive, and accurate detection of various mycotoxins have been chosen to be the topic of this Book of Toxins, comprising 12 original research articles and a review. Overall, 56 authors have contributed from 10 countries (China, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Kenya, Poland, Sweden, UK, US), discussing various aspects of mycotoxin research, with mycotoxin analysis involved, classical instrumental analytical or biosensor method development, sample preparation and handling to support method accuracy, as well as applications in routine monitoring or decontamination assessment. Target analyte mycotoxins included aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, fumonisins, fusarenone-X, HT-2 toxins, nivalenol, ochratoxins, sterigmatocystin, T-2 toxin, and zearalenone.

In discussing rapid detection, method development is an obvious focus area aiming for improved analytical characteristics (analytical sensitivity, accuracy, precision, linearity, robustness, and ruggedness, limits of detection and quantification, applicability). Thus, the development of classical instrumental analytical methods (e.g., liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry), immunoanalytical methods (e.g., a magnetic particle-based immunoassay, a fluorescent immunoassay, and several immunosensors), as well as a fluorescent sensor format utilising selective aptamers as recognition elements, are reported. Efforts to improve method applicability by enhanced sample preparation as well as sample selection are also described. Last, but not least, successful application of various rapid analysis methods in different commodity and environmental matrices is documented. Target matrices included traditional ones, e.g., laboratory fungal cultures, cereal, and feed samples, but in addition, surface water is also discussed as a novel environmental matrix of mycotoxins as emerging surface water contaminants. An additional emerging mycotoxin contamination problem is the spread of toxicogenic fungi with climate change tendencies. A particular corresponding issue is decontamination of mycotoxins in contaminated commodities, which is exemplified in this book by effective decomposition of aflatoxin and sterigmatocystin in maize by Lactobacilli and non-Lactobacillus lactic acid bacterial strains.

Due to the diverse topics covered, the book can account for the interest of a wide range of readers, from researchers to experts in practical applications.

> **Andr ´as Sz ´ek ´acs** *Editor*
