On the effectiveness of a detoxifying agent in preventing fusario-toxicosis in fattening pigs

A growing experiment and a digestibility study were carried out with fattening pigs to examine the effect of a deoxynivalenol (DON)-contaminated wheat (6.6 mg DON/kg) on growth performance, feed efficiency, digestibility and serum clinical parameters. Diets containing the contaminated wheat were compared to control diets containing uncontaminated wheat, at inclusion levels of 400 and 450 g/kg in starter and grower diets, respectively. These diets were fed either without or with supplementation of a detoxifying agent (Mycofix(R)Plus, Biomin, Herzogenburg, Austria) (NIP). The uncontaminated control diet was evaluated in a similar way. By this factorial arrangements it was possible to identify DON effects and both mycotoxin-specific and -unspecific effects of the addition of NIP. Live weight gain was reduced by approximately 10% (P = 0.003) due to feeding of the DON-contaminated diets which was caused by a reduced feed intake of the ad libitum fed pigs (P = 0.111). No effects of MP-supplementation were detected. Digestibility and metabolizable energy content were significantly higher for DON-contaminated diets in pigs fed restrictively. NIP-supplementation reduced fat digestibility independently of DON contamination in both diet types whereas crude fiber digestibility was increased when MP was added to the DON-contaminated diet. DON excretion with the urine as the main excretory route of DON elimination in pigs was not decreased by supplementing the DON-containing diet with NIP which indicates that DON was neither adsorbed or degraded by this additive. This finding was further substantiated by unaltered DON concentrations in serum of DON-exposed pigs fed the MP-supplemented and DON-containing diet. It can be concluded that the DON-related decrease in performance of pigs could not be alleviated by the addition of MP The inconsistent effects of MP on component digestibility need to be examined further especially in the view of an unspecific binding of nutrients or micro-nutrients. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.