Patulin - a Contaminant of Food and Feed : a review

Received: 2015-07-28   |   Accepted: 2016-02-18   |   Available online: 2016-05-30dx.doi.org/10.15414/afz.2016.19.02.64-67Contamination of food and agricultural commodities by various types of toxigenic molds (fungi) is a serious and widely neglected problem. Poor harvesting practices, improper drying, handling, packaging, storage and transport conditions contribute to fungal growth and increase the risk of mycotoxin production. Patulin is a toxic chemical contaminant produced by several species of mold. It is the most common mycotoxin found in apples, apricots, grapes, grape fruit, peaches, pears, olives and cereals. Patulin has been reported to be a genotoxic, reprotoxic, embryotoxic, and immunosuppressive compound. Further research needs to be focused on the generation of data dealing with epidemiological and toxicity effects, especially in humans.Keywords: mycotoxin, patulin, toxicityReferences Arici, M. 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WHO Technological report series, pp. 1-54.Fliege, R. and Metzler, M. (1999) The mycotoxin patulin induces intra- and intercllular amino groups crosslinks in vitro invilving cysteine, lysine and histidine side chains, and alpha-amino goups. Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol. 123, pp. 85-103. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0009-2797(99)00123-4Gokmen, E. and Acar, V. (2000) Long-term survey of patulin in Apple juice concentrates produced in Turkey. Food Aditives and Contaminants, vol. 17, no. 11, pp. 933-936. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/026520300750038117Hayes, A. W. et al. (1979) Acute toxicity of patulin in mice and rats. Toxicology, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 91-100. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0300-483x(79)80014-1Hopkins, J. (1993) The toxicological hazards of patulin. In Food and Chemical Toxicology, vol. 31, no. 6, p. 455-456. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0278-6915(93)90163-sIARC. 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Quercetin-induced changes in femoral bone microstructure of adult male rabbits

Flavonoids are a group of plant metabolites with antioxidant effects. One of the most abundant flavonoids in the human diet is quercetin. It is found widely in fruits, vegetables and has a lot of beneficial effects on human health. Quercetin has a positive pharmacological effect on bone metabolism and it prevents the organism against bone loss. However, its impact on the size of basic structural units of the compact bone is still unknown. Therefore, the aim of present study was to investigate the impact of the quercetin on femoral bone microstructure in 5-month-old male rabbits. Five rabbits of Californian broiler line were randomly divided into two groups. In the experimental group (E group; n=3), animals were intramuscularly injected with quercetin at dose 1000 μg.kg-1 body weight (bw) for 90 days, 3 times per week. Two rabbits without quercetin administration served as a control group (C group). According to our results, intramuscular application of quercetin had an insignificant effect on cortical bone thickness in male rabbits. In these rabbits, changes in qualitative histological characteristics were present in the middle part of the compacta, where primary vascular longitudinal bone tissue was present and expanded there from the periosteum. Also, a lower number of secondary osteons was found in these animals. From the histomorphometrical point of view, significantly decreased sizes of primary osteons' vascular canals and secondary osteons (p <0.05) were found in rabbits administered by quercetin. Our findings indicate that subchronic administration of quercetin at the dose used in our study had considerable impact on both qualitative and quantitative histological characteristics of the compact bone in adult male rabbits

The investigation of alfaalfa effect on the activity of superoxide dismutase in chicken meat in dependence on time storage

This study was conducted in order to monitor the effect of adding lucerne meal to chicken feed mixtures. The experiment was conducted at the Department Food Hygiene and Safety, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Science, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra. Chickens for meat production - final type Cobb 500 were used in the experiment. Chickens were placed in boxes all together for one group at the beginning of the experiment and from 14 days of age chickens were divided individually into floor enriched cages. Feeding of chickens lasted 38 days. The experiment was carried out without sex segregation. For the production of a feed composition was used alfalfa (Medicago sativa) as lucerne meal, which was added to the feed at a rate of 4%, namely: starter (HYD-01), growth (HYD-02) and final (HYD-03). The control group did not include the addition of lucerne meal. Chickens were fed ad libitum. Chickens were slaughtered after completion of feeding and the meat samples were taken for analysis. The collected samples were stored at -18 °C. Collected samples of meat were analyzed after slaughter chickens at time intervals of 6, 12 and 18 months. In the experiment was monitored the content of supeoxid dismutase in the chicken meat depending on the length of storage time. Superoxide dismutase content was increasing by storage time, while there were some statistically significant differences between groups

Correlated Response to Selection for Litter Size Residual Variability in Rabbits' Body Condition

[EN] Selection for decreasing litter size residual variance has been proposed as an indirect way to select for resilience. Resilience has been directly related to welfare. A good body condition and efficient body fat mobilization have been associated with an optimal level of animal welfare. Two rabbit lines have been divergently selected for litter size residual variability. The low line selected for decreasing litter size variance more efficiently managed the body fat from mating to weaning in the second productive cycle in females compared to the high line, which could be related to the lower culling rate reported previously in the low line. Therefore, body condition can be used as a useful biomarker of resilience. A divergent selection experiment for residual variance of litter size at birth was carried out in rabbits during twelve generations. Residual variance of litter size was estimated as the within-doe variance of litter size after pre-correction for year and season as well as parity and lactation status effects. The aim of this work was to study the correlated response to selection for litter size residual variability in body condition from mating to weaning. Body condition is related directly to an animal's fat deposits. Perirenal fat is the main fat deposit in rabbits. Individual body weight (IBW) and perirenal fat thickness (PFT) were used to measure body condition at second mating, delivery, 10 days after delivery, and weaning. Litter size of the first three parities was analyzed. Both lines decreased body condition between mating to delivery; however, the decrease in body condition at delivery was lower in the low line, despite this line having higher litter size at birth (+0.54 kits, p = 0.93). The increment of body condition between delivery and early lactation was slightly higher in the low line. On the other hand, body condition affected success of females' receptivity and fertility at the third mating, e.g., receptive females showed a higher IBW and PFT than unreceptive ones (+129 g and +0.28 mm, respectively), and fertile females had a higher IBW and PFT than unfertile ones (+82 g and +0.28 mm, respectively). In conclusion, the does selected for reducing litter size variability showed a better deal with situations of high-energy demand, such as delivery and lactation, than those selected for increasing litter size variability, which would agree with the better health and welfare condition in the low line.This research was supported by Project AGL2017-86083-C2-2-P, funding by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MIC)-Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) and el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER).Agea, I.; García, MDLL.; Blasco Mateu, A.; Massanyi, P.; Capcarová, M.; Argente, M. (2020). Correlated Response to Selection for Litter Size Residual Variability in Rabbits' Body Condition. Animals. 10(12):1-8. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10122447S181012Colditz, I. G., & Hine, B. C. (2016). Resilience in farm animals: biology, management, breeding and implications for animal welfare. Animal Production Science, 56(12), 1961. doi:10.1071/an15297Berghof, T. V. L., Poppe, M., & Mulder, H. A. (2019). Opportunities to Improve Resilience in Animal Breeding Programs. Frontiers in Genetics, 9. doi:10.3389/fgene.2018.00692Schröder, U. J., & Staufenbiel, R. (2006). Invited Review: Methods to Determine Body Fat Reserves in the Dairy Cow with Special Regard to Ultrasonographic Measurement of Backfat Thickness. Journal of Dairy Science, 89(1), 1-14. doi:10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(06)72064-1Maes, D. G. D., Janssens, G. P. J., Delputte, P., Lammertyn, A., & de Kruif, A. (2004). Back fat measurements in sows from three commercial pig herds: relationship with reproductive efficiency and correlation with visual body condition scores. Livestock Production Science, 91(1-2), 57-67. doi:10.1016/j.livprodsci.2004.06.015Pascual, J. J., Castella, F., Cervera, C., Blas, E., & Fernández-Carmona, J. (2000). The use of ultrasound measurement of perirenal fat thickness to estimate changes in body condition of young female rabbits. Animal Science, 70(3), 435-442. doi:10.1017/s135772980005178xBarletta, R. V., Maturana Filho, M., Carvalho, P. D., Del Valle, T. A., Netto, A. S., Rennó, F. P., … Wiltbank, M. C. (2017). Association of changes among body condition score during the transition period with NEFA and BHBA concentrations, milk production, fertility, and health of Holstein cows. Theriogenology, 104, 30-36. doi:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2017.07.030Van Staaveren, N., Doyle, B., Manzanilla, E. G., Calderón Díaz, J. A., Hanlon, A., & Boyle, L. A. (2017). Validation of carcass lesions as indicators for on-farm health and welfare of pigs. Journal of Animal Science, 95(4), 1528. doi:10.2527/jas2016.1180Sánchez, J. P., de la Fuente, L. F., & Rosell, J. M. (2012). Health and body condition of lactating females on rabbit farms1. Journal of Animal Science, 90(7), 2353-2361. doi:10.2527/jas.2011-4065Mulder, H. A., & Rashidi, H. (2017). Selection on resilience improves disease resistance and tolerance to infections. Journal of Animal Science, 95(8), 3346. doi:10.2527/jas2017.1479Argente, M. J., García, M. L., Zbyňovská, K., Petruška, P., Capcarová, M., & Blasco, A. (2019). Correlated response to selection for litter size environmental variability in rabbits’ resilience. Animal, 13(10), 2348-2355. doi:10.1017/s1751731119000302Blasco, A., Martínez-Álvaro, M., García, M.-L., Ibáñez-Escriche, N., & Argente, M.-J. (2017). Selection for environmental variance of litter size in rabbits. Genetics Selection Evolution, 49(1). doi:10.1186/s12711-017-0323-4Beloumi, D., Blasco, A., Muelas, R., Santacreu, M. A., García, M. de la L., & Argente, M.-J. (2020). Inflammatory Correlated Response in Two Lines of Rabbit Selected Divergently for Litter Size Environmental Variability. Animals, 10(9), 1540. doi:10.3390/ani10091540García, M. L., Blasco, A., García, M. E., & Argente, M. J. (2019). Correlated response in body condition and energy mobilisation in rabbits selected for litter size variability. Animal, 13(4), 784-789. doi:10.1017/s1751731118002203Pascual J.J., Blanco J., Piquer O., & Quevedo F. Cervera C. (2010). Ultrasound measurements of perirenal fat thickness to estimate the body condition of reproducing rabbit does in different physiological states. World Rabbit Science, 12(1). doi:10.4995/wrs.2004.584Iung, L. H. de S., Carvalheiro, R., Neves, H. H. de R., & Mulder, H. A. (2019). Genetics and genomics of uniformity and resilience in livestock and aquaculture species: A review. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 137(3), 263-280. doi:10.1111/jbg.12454Agea, I., García, M.-L., Blasco, A., & Argente, M.-J. (2019). Litter Survival Differences between Divergently Selected Lines for Environmental Sensitivity in Rabbits. Animals, 9(9), 603. doi:10.3390/ani9090603Fortun-Lamothe, L. (2006). Energy balance and reproductive performance in rabbit does. Animal Reproduction Science, 93(1-2), 1-15. doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2005.06.009Feugier, A., & Fortun-Lamothe, L. (2006). Extensive reproductive rhythm and early weaning improve body condition and fertility of rabbit does. Animal Research, 55(5), 459-470. doi:10.1051/animres:2006025Theilgaard, P., Baselga, M., Blas, E., Friggens, N. C., Cervera, C., & Pascual, J. J. (2009). Differences in productive robustness in rabbits selected for reproductive longevity or litter size. Animal, 3(5), 637-646. doi:10.1017/s1751731109003838Theilgaard, P., Sánchez, J. P., Pascual, J. J., Friggens, N. C., & Baselga, M. (2006). Effect of body fatness and selection for prolificacy on survival of rabbit does assessed using a cryopreserved control population. Livestock Science, 103(1-2), 65-73. doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2006.01.007Arias-Álvarez, M., García-García, R. M., Rebollar, P. G., Revuelta, L., Millán, P., & Lorenzo, P. L. (2009). Influence of metabolic status on oocyte quality and follicular characteristics at different postpartum periods in primiparous rabbit does. Theriogenology, 72(5), 612-623. doi:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2009.04.017Castellini, C. (2007). Reproductive activity and welfare of rabbit does. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 6(sup1), 743-747. doi:10.4081/ijas.2007.1s.743Castellini, C., Dal Bosco, A., Arias-Álvarez, M., Lorenzo, P. L., Cardinali, R., & Rebollar, P. G. (2010). The main factors affecting the reproductive performance of rabbit does: A review. Animal Reproduction Science, 122(3-4), 174-182. doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2010.10.003Xiccato, G., Bernardini, M., Castellini, C., Dalle Zotte, A., Queaque, P. I., & Trocino, A. (1999). Effect of postweaning feeding on the performance and energy balance of female rabbits at different physiological states. Journal of Animal Science, 77(2), 416. doi:10.2527/1999.772416xCardinali, R., Dal Bosco, A., Bonanno, A., Di Grigoli, A., Rebollar, P. G., Lorenzo, P. L., & Castellini, C. (2008). Connection between body condition score, chemical characteristics of body and reproductive traits of rabbit does. Livestock Science, 116(1-3), 209-215. doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2007.10.004Castellini, C., Dal Bosco, A., & Cardinali, R. (2006). Long term effect of post-weaning rhythm on the body fat and performance of rabbit doe. Reproduction Nutrition Development, 46(2), 195-204. doi:10.1051/rnd:200600

Quality of meat of rabbits after application of epicatechin and patulin

The aim of the present study was to determinate the effect of epicatechin and patulin on selected parameters of meat quality of rabbits. Adult female rabbits (n=25), maternal albinotic line (crossbreed Newzealand white, Buskat rabbit, French silver) and paternal acromalictic line (crossbreed Nitra's rabbit, Californian rabbit, Big light silver) were used in experiment. Animals were divided into five groups: control group (C) and experimental groups E1, E2, E3, and E4. Animals from experimental groups E1, E2, E3, E4 received patulin through intramuscular injection (10 µg.kg-1) twice a week and animals from groups E2, E3, E4 received epicatechin three times a week through intramuscular injection. After 30 days animals were slaughtered. For analysing of meat quality the samples of Musculus longissimus dorsi (50 g) were used. Application of  epicatechin and patulin to rabbits had slight or no effect on the pH levels in stomach, small intestine, large intestine and urinary bladder contents, however differences among the groups were insignificant (p ˃0.05). Application of epicatechin and patulin to rabbits had slight or no effect on total water, protein, fat   and differences among the groups were insignificant (p >0.05). The values of amino acids concentrations were not influenced after application of epicatechin and patulin. The fatty acid profiles in animals after application of different doses of epicatechin and 10 µg.kg-1 patulin were similar (p >0.05). Concentration of cholesterol increased in experimental groups in comparison with the control group, but differences were insignificant (p >0.05). pH levels of meat of rabbits in experimental group E3 was lower when compared with the control group, but differences was not significant (p >0.05).  Electric conductivity parameter was increased in each experimental group (in E3 the highest) against the control but without significant differences (p >0.05). Colour L parameter was slightly decreased in experimental groups with comparison to the control group (in E3 the lowest). Generally we can conclude that intramuscular application of epicatechin or patulin did not affect parameters of meat quality as well as pH values of internal organs content. Further investigations are needed to prove the final answer concerning the health promoting effects of epicatechin and patulin

Influence of Feed Additives to Enterococci in Chickens Gastrointestinal Tract

The present study was undertaken to provide detailed information about the effect of different feed additives on the enterococci colonization of chicken gastrointestinal tract. The Agolin Poultry, Agolin Tannin Plus, Biostrong 510+FortiBac and Agolin acid were administered to forth feed mixtures and Biocitro to drinking water in various amounts except of the control group. The addition of 1.5 g Agolin Poultry to 15 kg of feed was included in the first experimental group, the addition of 7.5 g Agolin Tannin Plus to 15 kg of feed in the second experimental group, the addition of 15g Biostrong510+FortiBac to 15 kg of feed the third experimental group, 15 g in the fourth experimental group of Agolin acid to 15 kg of feed and 10 ml fifth experimental group of drinking water. The lowest count of enterococci counts was found in the control group. The highest count of enterococci counts was found in the second experimental group where 7.5 g of Agolin Tannin Plus to 15 kg was added to feed mixture. For the identification of eterococci species the molecular method was used