Occurrence of fumonisins in feed for swine and horses

Abstract

Background: Fumonisin B1 (FB1), fumonisin B2 (FB2), and overall mycotoxins feed contamination may cause several effects on crops production and animal health. The contamination occurred predominantly in corn and corn-based foods and feeds.

Aims: This survey intends to provide the occurrence of fumonisins in swine and equine mixed feeds in Portugal, making an overview from 2007 to 2010.

Methods: A total of 363 samples were analyzed, 258 from swine feed and 105 from horse feed with HPLC method. The detection limit was 50 μg/kg for FB1 and 100 μg/kg for FB2.

Results: The overall results were 13% of FB1 occurrence from 2007 to 2010. FB1 was detected in about 17.0% of swine feed samples, being more frequent in 2010 (32.9%). In this year (2010) levels ranged between 66.7 and 3815.5 μg/kg. FB2 occurred only in 2010 in swine feed (6 samples, ranging between 104.0 to 467.2 μg/kg) and in horse feed (1 sample).

Conclusions: This represents an increase in occurrence through the analyzed years, but this may not be a threat to animal health, once the values were below the recommended guidance values from European Commission.