Revista Colombiana de Ciencias Pecuarias (Dec 2013)
Aflatoxin, deoxynivalenol, and zearalenone in swine diets: Predictions on growth performance
Abstract
Dietary mycotoxins have been shown to cause detrimental effects in swine health and production. The objective of this study was to develop tools for predicting the effects of aflatoxin (AFL), deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZON) on feed intake (FI) and weight gain (WG) changes using a meta-analysis approach. A total of 80 and 63 observations were extracted from 18 experiments testing the effects of AFL on FI and WG, respectively, and the differences of AFL concentrations between the control and treatment groups ranged from 0.02 to 2.5 mg/kg. A total of 117 and 113 observations from 20 experiments were used for testing the effects of DON on FI and WG, respectively. The differences of DON concentrations between the control and treatment groups ranged from 0.5 to 10.5 mg/kg. A total of 16 and 17 observations from 18 experiments were used for testing the effects of ZON on FI and WG, respectively, and the differences of ZON concentrations between the control and treatment groups ranged from 0.2 to 9.0 mg/kg. Effects of experiment, initial body weight, and experimental period were not significant for developing prediction equations for the changes of FI and WG. The models developed for predicting FI and WG changes (ΔFI and ΔWG) as % by AFL concentrations as mg/kg were: ΔFI = -24.9 × AFL - 1.7 with r² = 0.70 and p<0.001; ΔFI = 0.4 - 51.6 × (1 - e-0.947×AFL) with r² = 0.79 and p<0.001; ΔWG = -22.7 × AFL - 4.0 with r² = 0.62 and p<0.001; and ΔWG = -1.4 - 50.3 × (1 - e-0.976×AFL) with r² = 0.69 and p<0.001. The equations for predicting ΔFI and ΔWG as % by DON concentrations as mg/kg were: ΔFI = -5.64 × DON - 0.13 with r² = 0.60 and p<0.001; and ΔWG = -6.49 × DON + 0.93 with r² = 0.61 and p<0.001. The feed consumption and growth rate of pigs decrease linearly and exponentially by the concentrations of AFL and linearly by the concentrations of DON. The equations provided herein may predict the effects of AFL and DON on swine production performance.
