Investigation and Biological Control of Toxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins in Dairy Cattle Feeds

Mycotoxins, the secondary fungal metabolites are important contaminants of food and feed. Among the other contaminants, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and OTA are frequently detected in the animal feed product. In the present study, the mixed dairy cow feed products were collected from the supermarkets in Qatar and analyzed for the presence of AFB1 and OTA. Yeast strains were isolated and tested for their biological control activities against aflatoxigenic and ochratoxin fungi. We demonstrated that local 15 yeasts isolates have important antifungal potential activities through the synthesis of volatile organic compounds (VOC) that are able to act against the mycotoxigenic fungi and their synthesis of the mycotoxins. Two Yeast strains (4&2) isolated from fermented food, have shown a great antifungal inhibition growth in-vitro as well as spores inhibition and mycotoxins synthesis.

Mad Cow Disease and Englishmen: Dementia of Humans—Prions: Folding Protein Transmissible Diseases

This chapter studies mad cow disease. In 1985–1986, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, was first identified in cattle of southern England, and within two years, over 1,000 instances of infected cattle surfaced in more than 200 herds. Epidemiologic investigations indicated that the addition of meat and bone meal as a protein supplement to cattle feeds was the likely source of that infection. By 1993, cases of mad cow disease peaked at over 1,000 per week. In addition to controlling the BSE epidemic in cattle, procedures were established to gauge whether this disease was a human health problem and to safeguard the population from the potential risk of BSE transmission. As a defense measure, in 1990, a national Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) surveillance unit was established in the United Kingdom to monitor changes in the disease pattern of CJD that might indicate transmission of BSE to humans. Although CJD is the most common form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in humans, it is a rare disease with a uniform world incidence of about 1 case in 1 to 2 million persons per year.

Supplementing grass-based cattle feeds with legume leaves and its effects on manure quality and value as a soil improver for an Anthropic Ferralsol in Rwanda

Combined use of lime, animal manure and inorganic fertilisers is effective in replenishing the fertility of degraded acid soils. However, many smallholder farmers lack access to sufficient amounts of these inputs to improve the fertility and reduce the aluminium toxicity of Ferralsols. Organic manures are available but often have low nutrient content, which limits their ability to supply nutrients to soils. In a two-factor field experiment over four seasons on an Anthropic Ferralsol in Southern Province, Rwanda, we assessed (i) the effect of cattle manure on soil properties at a reduced rate affordable to smallholder farmers compared with that of NPK fertiliser applied, with and without lime also at a reduced rate, and (ii) the effect of supplementing grass in a basal cattle diet with legume leaves on manure quality and its effect on soil properties. Manure from cattle fed only the grass Chloris gayana (grass-only manure) and from cattle fed C. gayana supplemented with Acacia angustissima leaves (grass+legume manure) was applied at 5 t dry matter ha-1 (25% of the recommended rate) at the beginning of each growing season. NPK was applied as split doses supplying a total rate of 70 kg N ha-1. Lime was applied annually at a rate of 2.0 t CaO ha-1, which was 25% of the rate required to neutralise total acidity at the site. All amendments were applied only to the soil surrounding the maize plants (planting stations), which is estimated at 25% of the plot area. Maize stover was left on plots after harvest and planting stations were retained over all growing seasons. All treatments altered soil properties at the planting stations. Lime generally increased pH but there was no significant difference between lime plus manure treatments and non-limed manure treatments. Soil organic carbon concentration and cation exchange capacity were higher in manure and NPK treatments than in non-fertilised treatments. The manure treatment increased soil water-holding capacity compared with the NPK and non-fertilised treatments. There was no significant difference in total N, Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+ between the NPK and manure treatments. Micro-dosing animal manure can thus replace mineral fertiliser plus lime for soil fertility replenishment in smallholder farming. Grass+legume manure contained higher concentrations of total N, Ca, Mg, K and Na than grass-only manure, but its effect on soil properties did not differ significantly from that of grass-only manure.

Jackfruit Waste: A Promising Source of Food and Feed

All the food sources comprise edible and non-edible waste portions. With increasing demand for food and feed the current agriculture is focusing on agro-processing to utilize the maximum portion of the plant or animal resources. This review paper aims at summarizing the present status of utilization of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam, Moraceae) wastes in food, feed, and other industry. Apart from the non-edible portion like peel and axis, the edible by-products like seeds of jackfruit mostly remain underutilized worldwide including Bangladesh. This article has reviewed the works devoted to utilize different waste portions of jackfruit other than the juicy edible bulbs. There are many works which suggested that the thick peel of jackfruit can be utilized in nutrient enriched cattle feeds, extraction of bio-fuel, nano-porous adsorbent for removing dye etc. The peel and central axis of this fruit also had investigated for extraction of pectin. The seeds of jackfruit were attempted by many researches to be used in various bakery products. The starch and protein fractions were isolated from jackfruit seeds flour to make them use at a purified state in the food formulations. Ann. Bangladesh Agric. (2019) 23(1) : 91-102

Hydrophobized Reversed-Phase Adsorbent for Protection of Dairy Cattle against Lipophilic Toxins from Diet. Efficiensy In Vitro and In Vivo

The steady growth of inflammatory diseases of the udder in dairy cattle forces us to look for the causes of this phenomenon in the context of growing chemical pollution of the environment and feeds. Within the framework of this concept, an analysis was made of the polarity level of the three toxic impurity groups, which are commonly present in dairy cattle feeds. These impurities are presented by mycotoxins, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and persistent organic pollutants (POP). It has been determined that 46% of studied mycotoxins (n = 1500) and 100% of studied polyaromatic hydrocarbons (n = 45) and persistent organic pollutants (n = 55) are lipophilic compounds, prone to bioaccumulation. A comparative evaluation of the sorption capacity of four adsorbents of a different nature and polarity with respect to the simplest PAH, naphthalene and lipophilic estrogenic mycotoxin, zearalenone in vitro has been carried out. The highest efficiency in these experiments was demonstrated by the reversed-phase polyoctylated polysilicate hydrogel (POPSH). The use of POPSH in a herd of lactating cows significantly reduced the transfer of aldrin, dieldrin and heptachlor, typical POPs from the “dirty dozen”, to the milk. The relevance of protecting the main functional systems of animals from the damaging effects of lipophilic toxins from feeds using non-polar adsorbents, and the concept of evaluating the effectiveness of various feed adsorbents for dairy cattle by their influence on the somatic cell count in the collected milk are discussed.

Indigestible Plastic Bags are Hindering Profitability of Dairy Production in Peri-Urban Kampala

Many Ugandans living in the urban and peri-urban areas have started dairy farming to tap into the demand for milk and its products, driven by the population growth. Unfortunately, they operate on a small scale because land and cattle feeds in the urban and peri-urban areas are limited. In addition, the peri-urban areas are contaminated with indigestible materials such as plastic bags which once consumed by the cattle impair health, cause loss of milk productivity and death. This report documents the findings from three cases referred to the ambulatory clinic at the Central Diagnostic Laboratory (CDL) in 2018. The cases were diagnosed as hardware disease and surgically treated by rumenotomy. In addition, a review of the patients’ data sheets in CDL was performed to identify other cases of hardware disease documented in 2018. Both metallic and non-metallic indigestible materials were recovered from the rumen and reticulum of the three animals operated. The indigestible foreign materials included nails, wire, plastic bags and a sisal rope. The common clinical signs coherent with the presence of indigestible materials were chronic emaciation and loss of appetite. The review of the patients’ data sheets showed that blood samples of 23 cases of suspected hardware disease were submitted to CDL in 2018 for diagnosis. It is paramount that farmers are sensitized about the effects of indigestible materials on the production of dairy animals. For, such an intervention would liberate the peri-urban dairy farmers from losses attributed to hardware disease.

Chemical composition and mineral profile of concentrate feeds from dairy farms of Varanasi, India

One hundred twenty-three samples of 13 different concentrate feeds were collected from 45 dairy farms distributed all over the Varanasi municipal Corporation and these concentrate feeds were analyzed for proximate composition, fibre fractions, macro and micro mineral profilesto explore the suitable nutritional intervention for optimum production of dairy animals. It was observed that, mustard cake and linseed cakes were the major protein source for dairy farms. Linseed cake had comparatively high protein content than mustard cake (30.95 vs. 27.58%). Samples of compounded cattle feeds collected from study area had maximum CF (13.95%) and AIA (2.58%) content. Rice Bran had the maximum NDF and hemicelluloses while mustard cake contained highest ADF, cellulose and lignin levels. Wheat bran contained least NDF and hemicelluloses while maize grain contained least ADF, cellulose and lignin among all the concentrates. Maize grain was found to contain minimum concentration of several macro and micro minerals like Mg, Na, K, Cu, Zn, Mn and Co. Among all the concentrate feeds, compounded cattle feeds had maximum concentration of major minerals viz., Ca, P, Mg and Na while K and S and micro minerals like Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, Co, Mo and Se were in optimum concentration in it. This is attributed to additional supplementation of these minerals while formulating the compounded feeds. Different, concentrate feed contained varying amount of one or the other macro and micro mineral and therefore, individual concentrate ingredient was always deficient in some minerals which always demands additional supplementation of these minerals even when concentrate ration is fed to livestock.

Multi-Mycotoxin Occurrence in Dairy Cattle Feeds from the Gauteng Province of South Africa: A Pilot Study Using UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS

The indispensable nature of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins in agricultural systems is of worldwide concern, hence the need for surveillance studies to preserve public health. Thirteen dairy farms were surveyed and 40 dairy feeds of varying nature collected and analyzed for mycotoxins. Estimated levels of aflatoxins (AFs), fumonisin B1 (FB1), ochratoxin A (OTA), citrinin (CIT), zearalenone (ZEN), α-zearalenol (α-ZEL), β-zearalenol (β-ZEL), deoxynivalenol (DON), 3- and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (ADONs), HT-2 toxin (HT-2), and beauvericin (BEA) were established using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Highest frequencies (40/40) were found for AFG2 (range: <LOQ—116.1 ppb), α-ZEL (range: 0.98–13.24 ppb), and β-ZEL (range: 0.73–4.71 ppb), followed by AFB2 at 37/40 (range: <LOQ—23.88 ppb), BEA at 36/40 (range: <LOQ—55.99 ppb), HT-2 at 35/40 (range: <LOQ—312.95 ppb), and FB1 at 34/40 (range: <LOQ—1389.62 ppb). Apart from samples exceeding regulatory limits for total AFs in dairy feeds due to the high amounts of AFG2 and AFB2, levels of other mycotoxins were regarded as safe for dairy production in South Africa. This is the first-time the natural occurrence of the cold climate HT-2 in South African feeds was documented. Persistent co-occurrence of multiple mycotoxins across samples, however, may elicit synergistic and/or additive effects in hosts, hence raising concerns about their impacts and how such interactions may affect the dairy livestock sector.