a. allameh

One of the most important forms of preharvest damage to wheat is caused by sunn pests. The insects insert their mouth parts into the immature grain and while injecting their saliva suck the milky juices. Flour from damaged wheat results in low baking performance due to the bug proteolytic enzymes’ injected which cause the breakdown of gluten structure in the dough. In the present study three wheat varieties named Alvand, Mahdavi and Roshan with different levels of bug damage were studied. The effect of bug damage on physicochmical properties showed reduced thousand kernel weight, protein and ash contents. Gluten and gluten index decreased significantly upon bug damage. Among the factors the degree of gluten hydrolysis, total reducing substances and sulfhydryl groups content were increased upon bug damage in all the three varieties examined but disulfide groups content was reduced. Monitoring of the wheat flour protein by SDS-PAGE indicated that some of the bands related to HMW-GS at the top of electropherogram were disappeared and the intensity of some other were decreased. In Roshan and Alvand varieties, the intensity of bands with similar mobility to gliadins was decreased. Incubation of bug-damaged samples resulted in further degradation of electropherogram bands of high molecular weights and development of bands with lower molecular weights that is due to the hydrolyzing effect of bug protease.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of adding of two commercial absorbent products in feeds and to compare the results with the effect of adding of natural zeolite in reducing the adverse effects of aflatoxin B1 on broiler growth, performance and immune system. In this study, 200 one day old Arian 386 broiler chickens were used in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments, 4 replications and 10 chicks per each treatment. Experimental groups were as follows: negative control fed basal diet; positive control fed basal diet plus 1 mg aflatoxin B1 kg-1 diet; and three other groups fed 25g/kg Milbond-TX, Polysorb and Zeolite with 1 mg/kg aflatoxin B1, respectively. Feed intake did not significantly differ between the groups. The body weight gain and feed conversion ratio of birds fed contaminated diets were significantly decreased and increased, respectively but adding of the absorbent materials to contaminated feed caused a significant improvement in body weight gain and feed conversion. Among the internal organs, the spleen relative weights increased by consumption of aflatoxin B1contaminated feed. Aflatoxin B1 use without absorbent materials significantly decreased antibody production against Newcastle disease vaccine in 21 day. In addition, produced antibodies against sheep red blood cells in 35 day of age in birds fed aflatoxin B1 contaminated diets were reduced. The results of this study showed that the adding of natural zeolite and commercial absorbents in feeds contaminated with aflatoxin B1 causes improved performance and immune system compared with the group that received the aflatoxin B1 alone.

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of some mycotoxin absorbents on biochemical and hematological parameters of broiler chickens fed on aflatoxin B1 contaminated feed. Total of 200 broiler chickens Arian 386 in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 4 replications (10 birds for each replication) were used. Experimental treatments were: group A or negative control (soybean meal and corn diet)، group B or positive control (basal diet+1mg/kg aflatoxin B1)، groups C، D and E were formed by addition of 2. 5 g/kg of Milbond-TX، natural zeolit and Polysorb، into diet B، respectively. The results showed that aflatoxicosis significantly increased AST، ALT and LDH enzymes activity in comparison to the negative control group (P<0. 05). Adding absorbent additives decreased these enzymes activity compared to positive control. The amount of total protein and serum albumin were significantly lower in positive control group compared with the other groups (P<0. 05). The use of additives significantly reduced the serum cratinine in comparison with positive control group (P<0. 05). Addition of zeolit reduced serum uric acid compared to other absorbents. Serum cholesterol، triglyceride، glucose، calcium and Zn were not affected by aflatoxicosis (P>0. 05). Red blood cell counts in positive control group was significantly lower than the other groups except E (P<0. 05). Hematocrit in positive control group was significantly higher than the negative control group (P<0. 05). The hemoglobin value and erythrocytes osmotic fragility were significantly influenced by the type of added absorbent. In conclusion natural Iranian zeolit as well as the two commercial mycotoxin absorbents reduced the aflatoxin B1 induced biochemical and hematological alterations in broilers.