Fusarium moulds contaminating cereal and grains such as wheat and corn produce the trichothecene mycotoxin DON. Symptoms of ingestion include feed refusal, vomiting and can largely affect the financial viability of a commercial pig farm. Different feed additives can reduce the effects of the mycotoxin. The modes of action include chemically transforming the toxin to decrease toxicity, enhancing immune system functioning and binding the mycotoxin in the gut to prevent absorption. The effects of nine feed additives on nursery pigs performance when fed DON contaminated feed were studied. When 2 ppm DON was present in the diet for three weeks, feed intake was depressed by 10% and no feed additives reversed this.
The Efficacy of Eight Different Feed Additives on Mitigating the Effects of Deoxynivalenol (DON) (full article)
