Fumonisin B1, B2 and B3 in Muscle and Liver of Broiler Chickens and Turkey Poults Fed with Diets Containing Fusariotoxins at the EU Maximum Tolerable Level
Résumé
Although provisional maximum tolerable daily intake and recommended guidelines have been established for fumonisins (FB) in food, few data are available concerning levels of FB in
edible animal tissues. Such data are of particular interest in avian species that can tolerate relatively
high levels of fumonisins in their feed. Also, even if multiple contamination of animal feed by
toxins produced by Fusarium is very frequent, little is known about the consequences of multiple
contamination for FB levels in tissues. The aim of this study was to analyze the concentrations
of FB in the muscle and liver of chickens and turkeys fed with FB alone and with FB combined
with deoxynivalenol (DON), and with zearalenone (ZEN). Experimental diets were formulated by
incorporating ground cultured toxigenic Fusarium strains in corn-soybean based feeds. Control diets
were free of mycotoxins, FB diets contained 20 mg FB1+FB2/kg, and FBDONZEN diets contained
20, 5, and 0.5 mg/kg of FB1+FB2, DON, and ZEN, respectively. Animals were reared in individual
cages with free access to water and feed. The feed was distributed to male Ross chickens from the
1st to the 35th day of age and to male Grade Maker turkeys from the 55th to the 70th day of age.
On the last day of the study, the birds were starved for eight hours, killed, and autopsied for tissues
sampling. No sign of toxicity was observed. A UHPLC-MS/MS method with isotopic dilution and
immunoaffinity clean-up of samples has been developed for analysis of FB in muscle (n = 8 per diet)
and liver (n = 8 per diet). Only traces of FB that were below the LOQ of 0.25 µg/kg were found in
most of the samples of animals fed with the control diets. Mean concentrations of FB1, FB2, and FB3
in muscle were 17.5, 3.39, and 1.26 µg/kg, respectively, in chickens, and 5.77, 1.52, and 0.54 µg/kg in
turkeys, respectively. In the liver, the respective FB1, FB2, and FB3 concentrations were 44.7, 2.61, and
0.79 µg/kg in chickens, and 41.47, 4.23, and 1.41 µg/kg, in turkeys. Cumulated level of FB1+FB2+FB3
in the highly contaminated samples were above 60 and 100 µg/kg in muscle and liver, respectively.
The concentrations of FB in the tissues of animals fed the FBDONZEN diet did not greatly differ from
the concentrations measured in animals fed the diet containing only FB.