Decontamination and detoxification strategies for the Fusarium mycotoxin deoxynivalenol in animal feed and the effectiveness of microbial biodegradation.

Trichothecenes are a group of mycotoxins mainly produced by fungi of the Fusarium genus. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most abundant and important trichothecenes in food and feed, and is a significant contaminants due to its frequent occurrence in toxicologically relevant concentrations worldwide. Since toxin production depends strongly on environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, Fusarium toxin contamination can not be avoided completely. Therefore, exposure to this toxin is a permanent health risk for both humans and farm animals. As cereal crops are commonly contaminated with DON and animal diets consist mainly of cereals, it can be assumed that animals are frequently exposed to DON-contaminated feeds. Many strategies can be undertaken to reduce the toxic effect of DON. In addition to the general necessity for minimizing all risk factors that might influence the contamination of cereals with DON, such as the so-called field toxins before harvest, several post-harvest strategies can be applied to counteract possible deleterious effects of this mycotoxin in farm animals. Another approach for decontamination in feedstuffs is the use of adsorbent materials. Adsorbent materials may bind mycotoxins in the gastrointestinal tract and reduce absorption and systemic toxicity. It has been shown that some adsorbents are suitable to alleviate the toxic effects of specific mycotoxins, but its efficacy against trichothecenes is practically zero. Therefore, alternative strategies to reduce animal and human health risk are needed. The use of microbial additives is a method which uses microorganisms having the capability to detoxify mycotoxins by metabolism or degradation prior to their resorption in the gastrointestinal tract. DON has been reported to be completely transformed to de-epoxy-DON by ruminal and intestinal microflora. Eubacterium BBSH 797 was capable of DON degradation and counteracted the toxic effects of DON in animals. This review focuses on the efficacy of microbial feed additives in ameliorating the toxic effects of DON. According to the results of experiments to date, it appears that microorganisms are the main living organisms suitable for this mycotoxin biodegradation. However, the use of this approach depends on its effectiveness from both a practical and economic perspective.