Dietary mycotoxins binders: a strategy to reduce aflatoxin m1 residues and improve milk quality of lactating Beetal goats

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is a metabolite of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and secreted in milk of animals that are kept on a moldy diet. AFB1 is produced by several toxigenic species of fungi. In this study, the comparative efficacy of two mycotoxin binders was evaluated in terms of reducing excretion of AFM1, total viable bacterial count and somatic cell count in milk obtained from goats fed with AFB1 contaminated diet. A total of 32 lactating Beetal goats were reared and divided into 4 equal groups: Animals of group A were kept as control, while those in groups B, C, and D were individually fed with AFB1 at 40 µg alone, 40 µg AFB1 along with mycotoxin binder Toxfin® at 3 g kg−1 of cotton seed cake, and 40 µg AFB1 along with mycotoxin binder Elitox® at a dose rate of 1 g kg−1 of cotton seed cake, respectively. Toxfin® significantly decreased the excretion of AFM1 in goats’ milk by 49.57 % while Elitox® non-significantly reduced the excretion of AFM1 in goats’ milk by 19.49 %. Total viable bacterial count in milk samples of group C and D, and somatic cell count in milk samples of group C did not reduce significantly. However, somatic cell count in milk samples of group D reduced significantly. We conclude that the addition of Toxfin® in the moldy diet significantly reduce the excretion of AFM1 in animals’ milk and minimize the risk of mycotoxin toxicity to public health.