Abstract
In warm agricultural areas across the globe, maize, groundnut, and other crops become frequently contaminated with aflatoxins produced primarily by the fungus Aspergillus flavus. Crop contamination with those highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds impacts both human and animal health, as well as the income of farmers and trade. In Nigeria, poultry productivity is hindered by high prevalence of aflatoxins in feeds. A practical solution to decrease crop aflatoxin content is to use aflatoxin biocontrol products based on non-toxin-producing strains of A. flavus. The biocontrol product Aflasafe® was registered in 2014 for use in maize and groundnut grown in Nigeria. Its use allows the production of aflatoxin-safe maize and groundnut. A portion of the maize treated with Aflasafe in Nigeria is being used to manufacture feeds used by the poultry industry, and productivity is improving. One of the conditions to register Aflasafe with the national regulator was to demonstrate both the safety of Aflasafe-treated maize to avian species and the impact of Aflasafe as a public good. Results presented here demonstrate that the use of maize colonized by an atoxigenic strain of Aflasafe resulted in superior (p < 0.05) broiler performance in all evaluated parameters in comparison to broilers fed with toxigenic maize. Use of an aflatoxin-sequestering agent (ASA) was not sufficient to counteract the harmful effects of aflatoxins. Both the safety and public good value of Aflasafe were demonstrated during our study. In Nigeria, the availability of aflatoxin-safe crops as a result of using Aflasafe allows poultry producers to improve their productivity, their income, and the health of consumers of poultry products.
Highlights
Aflatoxins are highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds produced by Aspergillus flavus and closely related fungi in several crops [1]
Higher contents of both ether extract and crude protein were detected in control maize diets, while the lowest contents occurred in diets prepared with toxigenic maize
Our results strongly indicate that (i) inclusion of maize artificially colonized with atoxigenic A. flavus strains in poultry feeds has positive effects on bird performance in comparison to feeds prepared with maize containing high aflatoxin levels produced by a highly toxigenic A. flavus strain, and that (ii) poultry performance is similar when fed with either atoxigenic maize or aflatoxin-safe untreated maize
Summary
Aflatoxins are highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds produced by Aspergillus flavus and closely related fungi in several crops [1]. Maize (Zea mays L.) and groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) are amongst the most susceptible crops. Crop contamination with these potent compounds negatively affects both human and animal health, the income of farmers, and trade opportunities [2,3,4]. In the case of animals, when feeds are prepared with aflatoxin-contaminated crops, their productivity decreases drastically [5,6]. Poultry species are sensitive even at low aflatoxin concentrations, with negative effects ranging from poor and delayed growth, high feed conversion ratio (FCR), deficient nutrient usage, immunosuppression, liver diseases, poor egg-shell quality, and high mortality, among other constraints [7].
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