Abstract
Under moderate climatic conditions, deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination occurs frequently on cereals. Detoxification measures are required to avoid adverse effects on farm animals. In the present study, a wet preservation method with sodium sulfite (Na2SO3) and propionic acid was tested to titrate the optimum Na2SO3-dose for maximum DON reduction of contaminated maize kernels and meal and to examine the interaction between dose and moisture content in dependence on the preservation duration. The DON concentration decreased with increasing amounts of supplemented Na2SO3 and with increasing duration of the preservation period in a bi-exponential fashion. Additionally, the feed structure and moisture content had a significant influence on the decontaminating effect. Variants with 30% moisture content favored higher DON reduction rates compared to 14% moisture, but especially at low moisture contents, DON reduction was more pronounced in maize kernels than in maize meal. In addition to the decrease of DON, a concomitant formation of three different DON sulfonates was observed which differed in their formation pattern over the time course of preservation. The overall results and statistical analysis clarified that Na2SO3 addition of 10 g/kg maize at 30% moisture for eight days was necessary to obtain a complete DON reduction.
Highlights
The occurrence of moulds on agricultural crops, entailing serious consequences for plant cultivation and farm animal production, is an extensively-studied research area [1,2]
The results indicated that the higher moisture content of 30% as well as higher dosages of sodium sulfite applied were favorable for DON degradation
The results showed that the preservation time was more decisive for the observation and the progress of the DONS formation
Summary
The occurrence of moulds on agricultural crops, entailing serious consequences for plant cultivation and farm animal production, is an extensively-studied research area [1,2]. Because of the toxin formation in the field, these mycotoxins are still present during storage of contaminated harvest products. DON exposure might result in reduced feed intake, feed refusal or vomiting, especially in pigs, whereby the general growth performance is decreased [4,5]. For this reason, there is an ongoing need for possibilities to decontaminate mycotoxin-contaminated feedstuffs [2]. During the reaction a sulfonate group is added to C10 of the DON molecule
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