Mycotoxin deactivator improves performance, antioxidant status, and reduces oxidative stress in nursery pigs fed diets containing mycotoxins.

Ingestion of mycotoxins can result in many problems, including decreased growth rates and immune suppression. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of the supplementation of a mycotoxin deactivator composed by adsorbent clay minerals; inactivated fermentation extracts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae; and blend of antioxidants, organic acids, and botanicals in diets containing added mycotoxins for nursery pigs on their performance and antioxidant status. Ninety pigs weaned with 24 d of age (7.12 ± 0.68 kg of BW) were used. Pigs were housed in pens of three animals each according to body weight, litter origin, and sex. The dietary treatments consisted of feeding the pigs with a standard control diet as negative control (NC; mycotoxin levels at accepted regulatory Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture standards; deoxynivalenol (DON): <100 µg/kg; zearalenone (ZEA): <20 µg/kg; fumonisins (FB): <1 mg/kg); the standard diet added with mycotoxins to reach a low contamination level is considered as positive low (PCL-; DON: 900 µg/kg; ZEA: 100 µg/kg; FB: 5,000 µg/kg) without deactivator; a positive low added the deactivator at an inclusion rate of 1 kg/ton (PCL+); the standard diet added with mycotoxins to reach a high contamination level is considered as positive high (PCH-; DON: 4,500 µg/kg; ZEA: 500 µg/kg; FB: 18,000 µg/kg) without the deactivator; and a positive high added the deactivator at an inclusion rate of 5 kg/ton (PCH+). Pigs were individually weighed at the beginning and at the end of each phase and feed intake recorded based on daily pen intake during the experiment. On days 7, 19, 34, and 43 post-weaning, blood samples were drawn for antioxidant analyses. Antioxidant enzymes (glutathione peroxidase [GPx] and total superoxide dismutase [TSOD]), vitamins [Vit A, E, and C], and malondialdehyde [MDA]) were evaluated in erythrocyte and plasma samples. Pigs challenged with mycotoxins presented lower performance traits, decrease in the efficiency of central antioxidant systems (↓GPx, ↓TSOD, ↓Vit A, ↓Vit E, and ↓Vit C), and a higher oxidative damage to lipids (↑MDA) when compared with the control and deactivator-associated treatments. Our findings showed that the use of a mycotoxin deactivator can mitigate the negative impacts on performance and oxidative stress when animals are subjected to diets contaminated by different levels of mycotoxins.

Antioxidant activity and chemical composition of meat from broilers fed diets containing different essential oils.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Broiler meat is susceptible to lipid oxidation due to its high content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially when stored for a long time. Concerning with that problem, we can add natural compounds to the animal feed, as the plant essential oils, which have antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antifungal activities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity, fatty acid profile, and chemical composition of the meat of broilers fed with diets containing different essential oil, including lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and pedestrian tea (Lippia aff. rotundifolia). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The experimental design used was a 4×4 factorial scheme (storage time×diets), and each treatment was repeated thrice. The treatments were applied as negative control (without antimicrobial); positive control (ration supplemented with 10 ppm of enramycin and 42 ppm of salinomycin), lemongrass (ration with 120 mg of essential oil of lemongrass for each kilogram of live weight of the animals), and pedestrian tea (ration with 120 mg of essential oil of pedestrian tea for each kilogram of live weight of the animals). Storage was performed after slaughter and evaluated monthly for 4 months. RESULTS: The inclusion of lemongrass oil and pedestrian tea in the broiler diet did not change the ether extract content of the meat sample obtained from thigh and drumstick. The storage time promotes an increase in the moisture loss of the meat from the 2nd month in all treatments. There was an interaction between the additive and storage time for moisture loss. In the 2nd month of storage, the meat from broilers fed the antibiotic-containing feed had a lower moisture loss than those from broilers in the other treatment groups. The fatty acid profile did not differ statistically between the different treatment groups. The inclusion of additives in the food dropped the lipid oxidation at the 2nd month of storage. From the 3rd month, however, only the essential oils showed antioxidant effect. CONCLUSION: Antioxidant activity was positive for treatments that included essential oils. The lemongrass oil and pedestrian tea can be used as antioxidant additives in broiler diets to improve the oxidative stability of thigh-drumstick meat during storage. The results of the study suggest a good prospective for further research with profitability of usage essentials oils examined, for their economical application as feed components in broiler nutrition.