Mycotoxin sequestering agent: Impact on health and performance of dairy cows and efficacy in reducing AFM1 residues in milk

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the exposure to a diet naturally contaminated with mycotoxins on lactation performance, animal health, and the ability to sequester agents (SA) to reduce the human exposure to AFM₁. Sixty healthy lactating Holstein cows were randomly assigned to two groups: naturally contaminated diet without and with the addition of a SA (20 g/cow/d AntitoxCooPil® -60% zeolite-40% cell wall-). Each cow was monitored throughout lactation. The concentration of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) in feed and M₁ (AFM₁) in milk, health status, and productive and reproductive parameters were measured. AFB₁ concentration in feed was very low (2.31 μg/kgDM). The addition of SA reduced the milk AFM₁ concentrations (0.016 vs. 0.008 μg/kg) and transfer rates (2.19 vs. 0.77%). No differences were observed in health status, production and reproduction performance. The inclusion of SA in the diet of dairy cows reduce the risk in the most susceptible population.

Keywords: Aflatoxin; Animal health; Lactation performance; Sequestering agents.