[Bioavailability of cadmium: effect of vitamin C and phytase in broiler chickens].

Though the application of the toxic heavy metal cadmium is reduced, its concentration in soil and in feed still increases. Especially smoking habits and unbalanced diets cause cadmium intake in humans beyond the limits suggested by WHO. One possibility to reduce cadmium burden is to influence the bioavailability of cadmium in the feed by certain vitamins, trace elements and other feed components and thus to lower its content in food from animal origin. In the present study the influence of vitamin C and phytase on the bioavailability of cadmium was investigated in broiler chicken. It was shown that 1 g vitamin C per kg of feed lowered cadmium accumulation in kidney and in liver by up to 40%. Addition of phytase, a new feeding enzyme, licensed in 1992 in Germany for improving phosphate utilization from phytate, lowered cadmium accumulation by up to 60%. Therefore the addition of these two components to the feed lowers the cadmium burden in food from animal origin and thus increases its quality.