Abstract
Mycotoxins are poisonous biomolecules produced as secondary metabolites by some fungal species, as they grow on various substrates under suitable growth conditions. Approximately, 83% of these deaths occur in East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It has been estimated that more than five billion people in developing countries are at risk of chronic exposure to aflatoxins, through contaminated foods/feeds Several studies of revealed that A. flavus and A. parasiticus are of significant concern in poultry contamination, being the most common producers of aflatoxins. In the current study, a total of 120 samples of poultry feeds were collected from different localities of Beni-Suef Governorate. The samples were examined for the existence of Aspergillus species. Moreover, the capacity to produce aflatoxins by the Aspergillus flavus was determined. The results revealed that the most predominant Aspergillus isolates was A. flavus (n= 75; 62.5%) followed by A. niger (n= 31; 25.9%) and A. fumigatus (n= 19; 15.8%). Out of 75 A. flavus isolates, 43 strains (57.3%) produced aflatoxins. These results concluded the potential exists for the production of mycotoxins by the Aspergillus flavus. The present study was designed to investigate the existence of Aspergillus species in poultry feed as well as determining the capacity of Aspergillus flavus isolates to produce aflatoxins.
Highlights
Mycotoxins are poisonous biomolecules that are produced as secondary metabolites by some fungal species, as they grow on various substrates under suitable growth conditions (Tola and Kebede, 2016)
Incidence of fungi isolated from the examined samples other than Aspergillus spp.: Mycological examination of 120 samples of poultry feed showed the presence of 2 genera of fungi (Table 3) other than Aspergillus spp
Data illustrated in Table (4) showed that out of 120 poultry feed samples, 125 Aspergillus species were recovered and were included in three species
Summary
Mycotoxins are poisonous biomolecules that are produced as secondary metabolites by some fungal species, as they grow on various substrates under suitable growth conditions (Tola and Kebede, 2016). Liu and Wu, (2010); Salim et al, (2011) added that the mycotoxins are responsible for many acute and chronic diseases in humans and animals such as; liver damage, esophageal cancer, reduced digestive enzyme activity, immune suppression, and various effects on children including stunted growth with many annual mortality cases. In addition to causing diseases, mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins affect feed quality by reducing their nutritive value and producing an unpleasant smell. They affect poultry performance and health, leading to severe economic losses (Monson et al, 2014). Among Aspergillus spp., A. flavus was frequently found in contaminated feeds (Varga et al, 2011)
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