Ergot alkaloids are produced by a group of fungi known as the Claviceps species, the most significant being the C. purpurea. These fungi infect the seed heads of plants during the flowering period and produce a wintering body. The fungus replaces the developing grain or seed with the alkaloid wintering body, known as ergot, ergot body or sclerotium.
The sclerotia are harvested together with the cereals or grass, and if not removed before processing, can lead to contamination of cereal-based food and feed products with ergot alkaloids.
Contaminated feed with toxic levels of ergot alkaloids has been found to affect the reproductive cycles of pigs, poultry and cattle, causing animals to terminate pregnancies. They also have been shown to impact upon digestive systems, resulting in under-performance in weight-gain for meat production.