Aflatoxicosis: The Presence of Aflatoxins or Their Metabolites in Livers and Skeletal Muscles of Chickens

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONFOLLOWING the discovery of aflatoxins, which are produced by certain strains of Aspergillus flavus (Sargeant et al., 1961), interest has developed in mycotoxicological investigations.Aflatoxin is composed of at least 4 difurano coumatin derivatives which, when separated by thin layer chromatography (TLC), fluoresce under long-wave ultraviolet light in descending order as blue (B1 and B2) and green (G1 and G2) spots (Asao et al., 1963Asao et al., 1965; de Iongl et al., 1962; Hartley et al., 1963). Of the 4 derivatives, B1 is the most toxic, with an LD50 of 18.2 μg. in day old ducklings, (Carnaghan et al., 1963). Metabolism of aflatoxin occurs primarily in the liver, but metabolic pathways are not fully understood.Although numerous reports have been published on the biological, chemical and toxic properties of aflatoxin, its presence in food of animal origin and destined for human consumption has not been adequately established (Hesseltine et al., 1966).…