Spices, like other food and agricultural products, are prized for their distinctive flavour. Additionally, they could add colour and enhance the food's overall quality of preservation. Spices and spice extracts are utilised in traditional remedies, cosmetics, and a variety of other purposes in addition to being employed in different native dishes and cuisines. Spices are susceptible to mould growth during harvest, processing, storage, and handling, which lead to the generation of secondary metabolites known as mycotoxins. Numerous abiotic elements, as well as the state of the spice, have a significant impact on both the rate of production and the degrees of contamination. Spices that have mycotoxin contamination are generally unsafe for human consumption. The main contributor to mycotoxin contamination in the spice supply chain is the poor implementation of scientific techniques. The FAO estimates that mycotoxins infect about 25% of all agricultural products worldwide. The main mycotoxins that contaminate spices are aflatoxins and ochratoxin. The review discusses the causes of mycotoxin contamination in spices, the consequences for health, the permissible limits in foods, and analytical techniques to identify mycotoxins.
