Mycotoxins are the harmful secondary metabolites of some toxigenic fungi in contaminated feedstuffs. Ruminants could also transfer these residues through milk and meat, causing deleterious human health consequences. Mycotoxin contamination is one of the most severe threats to modern feed manufacturing and animal husbandry.
Deoxynivalenol (Don), or vomitoxin, Zearalenone (ZEN) and Fumonisins (FUM) are among the most common and challenging mycotoxins in animal feed, particularly in wheat grain. In a recent survey, 25%, 59% and 71% of wheat samples were contaminated by ZEN, FUM and DON, respectively. Unfortunately, traditional clay-based binder is not effective against DON and ZEN due to their unique chemical structures.
DON is a small, polar molecule but with a specific epoxy group and a hydroxyl (-OH) group. It doesn’t adsorb well to the broad, negatively charged surfaces of common clays. ZEN is a larger, non-polar molecule with a resorcinol moiety. It requires very specific pore sizes for adsorption, which many common clays lack.
Traditional binders like raw bentonites are excellent for FUM but show poor efficacy against Zen and Don.
Yeast cell wall and algae contain the complex carbohydrates to provide vast surface area with polysaccharides chains. The primary role of Algae carbohydrates is to support liver function and animal immunity, helping to tolerate the remaining toxin load rather than removing the toxin itself.
In an in vitro trial, using a combined mycotoxin binder MT.X +® including bentonite, yeast cell wall and algae significantly reduced intestinal absorption of FUM and DON (Figure 1).
A study compiled by our Redox Animal Nutritionists.