Please select:

Solutions > Mycotoxin Risk Management

Quick Links
Home About BIOMIN BIOMIN Research Careers Mycofix^® FUMzyme^® New! Biotronic^® Biotronic^® Top3 Biomin^® P.E.P. Digestarom^® RevestArom^® NeoSweet^® AquaStar^® PoultryStar^® Biomin^® C-EX Biomin^® IMBO Biomin^® BioStabil Biomin^® CleanGrain Biomin^® Phytase Levabon^®

Contact us here

	BIOMIN on Facebook
	BIOMIN on Twitter
	BIOMIN on LinkedIn
	Mycotoxins.info Blog
	BIOMIN Channel
	Mycotoxin Channel
	BIOMIN Newsfeed

Mycotoxin Risk Management

Mycotoxins are highly toxic secondary metabolic products of moulds mainly produced by Fusarium, Aspergillus and Penicillium species. The most common and regularly encountered mycotoxins can be divided into six major categories: aflatoxins, zearalenone, trichothecenes, ochratoxins, fumonisins and ergot alkaloids.

Mycotoxins can be found in every variety of grain and forage produced for food and feed. They accumulate in food and feed crops in the field, during transportation or improper storage.

The structural, chemical, biological and toxicological properties of mycotoxins are diverse. Toxicity levels are extremely variable, depending on intake level, duration of exposure, animal species, sex, age, breed, physiological status, nutritional standing, environmental conditions (including hygiene, temperature, air conditioning, humidity, production density) and eventual synergisms between mycotoxins simultaneously present in feeds or foods. The main toxic effects are carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, teratogenicity, nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, reproductive disorders and immunosuppression.

There are no easy answers to the mycotoxin dilemma, as

these compounds often occur at very low concentrations that may be difficult to detect.
analysis may not give a true assessment of the situation, because the methodology is not sufficiently developed or unidentified mycotoxins may be present.
clinical symptoms are often not obvious or unique. Typical observations, such as lethargy, decreased feed intake, poor performance or increased susceptibility to infection could also be caused by a number of other health or management factors.
there is no typical dose-response with mycotoxins.
interactions between individual mycotoxins are not well characterized. Since contaminated feed usually contains a number of different mycotoxins, some of which might not yet be identified or well known, the interpretation of what is happening becomes increasingly difficult.

: click to enlarge

Although extensive efforts and preventive actions are taken during growing, harvesting and storage periods, the likelihood of mycotoxin contamination is real. Therefore successful detoxification procedures after harvest are important.

The addition of adsorbent materials to animal feeds is commonly used to prevent mycotoxicosis, especially aflatoxicosis. These compounds bind the toxin during the digestive process in the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in a reduction of toxin availability that can be absorbed into the blood stream. Efficacious adsorption of mycotoxins requires that polar groups of the adsorbent and the mycotoxins are in suitable positions to bind together. Due to this, only a few mycotoxins can be adsorbed efficiently (e.g. aflatoxins).

The biological detoxification of mycotoxins by microorganisms and/or enzymes has been researched for over thirty years. This method is based on the deactivation of mycotoxins directly in the gastrointestinal tract and offers a very specific, irreversible and efficient way of detoxification. Consequently, less or non-adsorbable mycotoxins have to be treated by enzymatic deactivation, and only a combination of different strategies would prove successful.