Evaluation of dietary mycotoxin control strategies on nursery pig growth performance and blood measures.

A total of 4,318 pigs (337 × 1,050, PIC; initially 6.5 ± 0.08 kg) were used in a 35-day study to evaluate dietary mycotoxin control strategies on nursery pig performance and blood measures. Pigs were weaned at approximately 21 d of age and randomly allotted to 1 of 5 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with blocking structure including sow farm origin, date of entry into facility, and average pen BW. A total of 160 pens were used with 80 double-sided 5-hole stainless steel fence line feeders, with feeder serving as the experimental unit. For each feeder, 1 pen contained 27 gilts and 1 pen contained 27 barrows. There were 16 replications per dietary treatment. A common phase 1 diet was fed to all pigs in pelleted form for 7 day prior to treatment diets. Experimental treatments were fed from days 7 to 42 after weaning (days 0 to 35 of the study) and included a low deoxynivalenol (DON) diet (1.12 ± 0.623 mg/kg), high DON diet (2.34 ± 1.809 mg/kg), high DON+ 0.50% sodium metabisulfite (SMB), high DON+ one of two mitigating products; 0.30% Technology1, or 0.30% Technology1+. Technology1 and 1+ are comprised of clays, yeast cell wall components, and a blend of plant extracts. Technology1+ also contains SMB. Overall (days 0 to 35), pigs fed high DON had decreased (P < 0.05) final BW, ADG, and ADFI compared with low DON. Additionally, pigs fed high DON+SMB had increased (P < 0.05) ADG compared with all other treatments. An improvement (P < 0.05) in G:F was observed in pigs fed high DON + SMB or high DON + Technology1+ compared with the low DON or high DON + Technology1 diets with high DON diets intermediate. Pigs fed high DON + SMB or high DON + Technology1 diets had reduced (P < 0.05) total removals and mortality compared with pigs fed low DON diets with high DON and high DON + Technology1+ intermediate. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of circulating blood collected on day 35 revealed that pigs fed high DON or high DON + Technology1 had increased (P < 0.05) DON concentrations compared to low DON with high DON + SMB and high DON + Technology1+ intermediate. In summary, pigs fed high DON diets had reduced performance compared with pigs fed low DON. Sodium metabisulfite in high DON diets provided a benefit in growth performance with ADG and G:F exceeding growth performance in the low DON diet while, the improved G:F ratio combined with other immunometabolic changes (gamma glutamyltransferase and creatine kinase) associated with Technology1+ warrant further investigation.

Sodium metabisulfite in dried plum and its cytotoxic effects on K-562 and L-929 normal cell lines.

In the present study, the concentration of sodium metabisulfite (SMB) in dried plums and its toxicity effects on the cell lines of K-562 (human leukemia cell line) and L-929 (normal fibroblast cell line) were measured. Samples of dried plums were randomly collected from the shops located in Neyshabur and Mashhad (Iran). SMB residue was measured using iodometric titration and high-performance liquid chromatography. To analyze the cytotoxicity, the cells were treated with various concentrations of SMB, and cell viability was determined by the MTT and LDH methods. The average concentration of SMB in the samples of dried plums was selected to evaluate the apoptosis/necrosis by flow cytometer. The expression analysis of apoptosis marker genes (BAX, Bcl-2, and P53) was also assessed. Results indicated that the average concentration of SMB residue in 12 samples of dried plum was 516 ± 285.39 mg/kg. When K-562 cells were treated with 500 mg/L of SMB, apoptosis increased significantly (p < 0.01). The IC50 of SMB for K-562 and L-929 cells after a 48-h exposure was 200.31 and 257.82 mg/L, respectively. SMB-treated cells showed that cell viability in both cell lines decreased in a dose-dependent manner after 72 h (p < 0.01). The percentage of apoptotic but not necrotic cells was 69.49% for K-562 and 77.32% for L-929 cells, whereas apoptosis of untreated control cells was 0.17%. Our findings also showed an opposite mRNA expression of Bcl-2 (anti-apoptotic marker) and Bax2 (pro-apoptotic marker) when k-562 cells were treated with SMB. The results indicated that the concentration of sulfite residue in some dried plums poses a cell toxicity risk for normal cells. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The results of current study provide important information concerning the toxicological effects of SMB, and give a warning that it needs to be replaced by natural products for fruit drying processes.

Grape skins as supplements for color development in Pinot noir wine.

A particular challenge to making wine from Pinot noir grapes is the delicate flavor, light color and poor ageing potential of the wine. Conventional Pinot noir must preparations were compared with those made using a skin-based supplement to assess the impact on non-bleachable (sulfur resistant) pigments in the wine. When supplemented with either fresh grape pomace of Pinot noir, Pinot gris or Chardonnay grapes; Pinot noir grape marc or a commercial liquid grape skin extract, the additional seeds and pulp from the supplements were shown to compromise the development of stable pigments in the wine. To compare the relative merits of tannin derived from grape skins and seeds, the supplements used in a parallel experiment were the skins alone of the same three grape varieties and at six months bottle age, the stable pigment concentration was found to exceed the amount attributable to the supplement. A third experiment used fermented grape skins as the supplement, with 85% of the supplementary anthocyanin recovered as stable pigment complexes in the wine. Notably, this series of experiments showed that supplements containing grape seeds appeared to compromise non-bleachable pigment formation in the wine while skin only supplements stimulated their development.

Evaluating the efficacy of turbimetric measurements as a rapid screening technique to assess fungal susceptibility to antimicrobial compounds as exemplified by the use of sodium metabisulfite.

The in vitro susceptibility to sodium metabisulphite (NaMBS) was investigated in 10 different food spoilage filamentous fungi, namely Aspergillus flavus, A. carbonarius, A. niger, A. ochraceus, A. tubingensis, A. westerdijkiae, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium commune and P. expansum. The fungi were inoculated in sterile 96-well microtiter plates containing Yeast-extract Sucrose (YES) semi-solid agar supplemented with NaMBS in concentrations ranging from 2000 to 3.9 mg l-1 and incubated at 25 °C. Growth was monitored by absorbance measurements at 600 nm using a multi-spectrophotometer. The surface areas under the optical density (OD) vs. time growth curves obtained were used to calculate the fractional area f(a), from which the non-inhibitory (NIC) and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the antifungal agent were calculated for each fungus using the Gompertz model for decay. Most Aspergillus species showed remarkable resistance to NaMBS, presenting NIC and MIC values higher than 250 and 2500 mg l-1, respectively. The most susceptible fungi were the two Penicillium species and A. carbonarius, which presented very low NIC (<100 mg l-1) and MIC (<1300 mg l-1) values, whereas C. cladosporioides and F. oxysporum presented intermediate values. The method has the advantage of good repeatability and accuracy, rapid results within 48-72 h, growth detection and susceptibility to the antifungal agent for several fungi at the same time, and optimal use of microbiological media by using small volumes of consumables.