Detoxifying deoxynivalenol (DON)-contaminated feedstuff: consequences of sodium sulphite (SoS) treatment on performance and blood parameters in fattening pigs

L Bahrenthien,L Hüther,A Berk,H E Schwartz-Zimmermann,J Kluess,D Schatzmayr,S Dänicke,S Kersten,J Saltzmann,A Zeyner

doi:10.1007/s12550-019-00385-5

L Bahrenthien, L Hüther + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-019-00385-5

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Abstract

A 10-week feeding experiment was carried out examining the effects of deoxynivalenol (DON)-contaminated maize treated with different sodium sulphite (SoS) concentrations on performance, health and DON-plasma concentrations in fattening pigs. Two maize batches were used: background-contaminated (CON, 0.73 mg/kg maize) and Fusarium-toxin contaminated (DON, 44.45 mg/kg maize) maize. Both were wet preserved at 20% moisture content, with one of three (0.0, 2.5, 5.0 g/kg maize) sodium sulphite concentrations and propionic acid (15%). Each maize batch was then mixed into a barley-wheat-based diet at a proportion of 10%, resulting in the following 6 feeding groups: CON− (CON + 0.0 g SoS/kg maize), CON2.5 (CON + 2.5 g SoS/kg maize), CON5.0 (CON + 5.0 g SoS/kg maize), DON- (DON + 0.0 g SoS/kg maize), DON2.5 (DON + 2.5 g SoS/kg maize) and DON5.0 (DON + 5.0 g SoS/kg maize). Dietary DON concentration was reduced by ~ 36% in group DON2.5 and ~ 63% in group DON5.0. There was no impact on ZEN concentration in the diets due to SoS treatment. Pigs receiving diet DON- showed markedly lower feed intake (FI) compared to those fed the control diets. With SoS-treatment of maize, FI of pigs fed the DON diet (DON5.0: 3.35 kg/d) were comparable to that control (CON−: 3.30 kg/day), and these effects were also reflected in live weight gain. There were some effects of SoS, DON or their interaction on serum urea, cholesterol and albumin, but always within the physiological range and thus likely negligible. SoS wet preservation of Fusarium-toxin contaminated maize successfully detoxified DON to its innocuous sulfonates, thus restoring impaired performance in fatteners.

Highlights

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN) are Fusarium-derived mycotoxins and are frequently cooccurring in cereals, especially in maize, barley and wheat
Concentrations of DONS1 and DONS3 were lower than Limit of detection (LOD) in all CON groups, but DONS2 occurred in traces (0.04 mg/kg) in the CON groups treated with sodium sulphite (SoS) in starter and grower phase
This can be explained by the small background concentration of DON in the control diets, which apparently resulted in a degradation of DON into DONS2 after 63 days of wet preservation

Summary

Introduction

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN) are Fusarium-derived mycotoxins and are frequently cooccurring in cereals, especially in maize, barley and wheat These cereals are often used as major components of diets for fattening pigs, and mycotoxin exposure can pose a risk to pig production. Problems in animal production mainly occur due to a decreased feed intake (FI) and live weight gain (LWG) caused by the very sensitive response of pigs to DON exposure (Dänicke et al 2004; Pestka 2007; Pierron et al 2016; Reddy et al 2018) Besides their negative impact on the performance of pigs, mycotoxins can have further adverse consequences. To investigate the above-mentioned aspects a long-term in vivo study was designed to examine the effects of a constant proportion of wet-preserved Fusarium-toxin contaminated maize treated with graded SoS levels in the diet for fattening pigs

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