Effects of feeding diets containing Fusarium (naturally) contaminated wheat or pure deoxynivalenol (DON) in growing pigs

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted to determine the effects of feeding diets containing laboratory synthesized deoxynivalenol (DON), or Fusarium (naturally) contaminated wheat containing DON on performance and health of young pigs (32.8–41.1 kg body weight). Diets containing 3.4–19.1 mg DON kg−1 were fed to pigs ad libitum for 14 d (exps. 1 and 2) or 7 wk (exp. 3) after which time each pig was slaughtered and blood, tissue and organ samples taken for analysis. All pigs responded to DON-contaminated diets with an immediate reduction in feed intake and body weight gain followed by some degree of recovery that was dependent on the dietary DON concentration. Negative linear relationships were found between feed intake or body weight gain and dietary DON concentration with pure DON and naturally contaminated wheat diets. Feed intake and weight gain were, respectively, 18 and 23% lower when a diet containing naturally contaminated wheat was fed compared to a diet containing an equivalent concentration of pure DON. Effects of DON on organ weights, relative to body weight, were inconsistent among experiments. The gastric mucosa was thinner and more eroded and had a higher degree of folding in the esophageal region in most groups fed DON-contaminated diets compared to those fed the control diet. Effects of DON on the fundic and cardiac regions of the stomach were inconsistent among treatments and experiments. There was little or no effect of DON on most of the blood parameters measured. Key words: Pure deoxynivalenol, naturally contaminated wheat, swine, intake, gain, vomitoxin, mycotoxin, fusarium, trichothecene