Aflatoxins: History, Significant Milestones, Recent Data on their Toxicity and Ways to Mitigation

In the early 1960s the discovery of aflatoxins began when a total of 100,000 turkey poults died by hitherto unknown turkey “X” disease in England. The disease was associated with Brazilian groundnut meal affected by Aspergillus flavus. The toxin was named Aspergillus flavus toxin—aflatoxin. From the point of view of agriculture, aflatoxins show the utmost importance. Until now, a total of 20 aflatoxins have been described, with B1, B2, G1, and G2 aflatoxins being the most significant. Contamination by aflatoxins is a global health problem. Aflatoxins pose acutely toxic, teratogenic, immunosuppressive, carcinogenic, and teratogenic effects. Besides food insecurity and human health, aflatoxins affect humanity at different levels, such as social, economical, and political. Great emphasis is placed on aflatoxin mitigation using biocontrol methods. Thus, this review is focused on aflatoxins in terms of historical development, the principal milestones of aflatoxin research, and recent data on their toxicity and different ways of mitigation.

OPTIMUM PROTEIN AND ENERGY LEVELS FOR FINISHING BROILER CHICKENS IN A TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT

Three experiments were conducted to determine the optimum protein and energy levels for finishing broiler chickens in a tropical environment. Dietary protein levels (20, 23 and 26 percent) and energy levels (2800, 3000 and 3200 Kcal/kg diet) tested had no significant effects on performance of finishing chickens fed fishmeal-containing rations. Rations based on cereals and groundnut meal, without fishmeal, did not support maximum liveweight gain and feed efficiency at dietary protein levels below 26 percent. Dietary treatments had no significant effects on carcass dressing percentages. Based on the present results, a protein level of 20 percent(for fishmeal containing rations) and 23 or 26 percent (for rations based on groundnut meal without fishmeal) and energy levels of 2800 to 3000 Kcal/Kg diet are tentatively recommended for finishing broiler chickens raised in a tropical country like Nigeria.

NUTRITIVE VALUE OF LOCALLY PREPARED FISHMEALS FOR BROILER CHICKENS

Three experiments were conducted with broiler chickens to study the effects of replacing commercial Herring fishmeal with fishmeals prepared form crayfish, sardine, mudskeeper and mullet. In the first experiment, there were no significant differences in the performance, carcass dressing percentages and the composition of the hearts and livers when any of the locally prepared fishmeals replaced the commercial fishmeal in rations. Rations without fish meal depressed performance and carcass/neck dressing percentages significantly but did not affect the composition of the hearts and livers. In experiment 2, the fishmeals were fed at a supplementary level of 7.5% and at a level (20%) in which they constituted the only source of supplementary protein. In this experiment, performance of birds fed 7.5% of the different fishmeals were similar to those observed in the first experiment. When the fishmeals constituted the sole source of supplementary protein, performances of the birds were similar for all fishmeals and were better than when 7.5% fishmeals was fed in the ration in addition to groundnut meal. The ration containing groundnut meal as the sole supplementary protein source depressed performance of birds. In Experiment 3 the total protein efficiency ration (TPE) of the different fishmeal rations were assessed. The TPE for all the fishmeal ration were not significantly different and were significantly better than that of rations without fishmeal

Some Nigerian Protein Concentrates as Foods and Feeds

THE nutrients, amino acid composition and protein quality of a range of Nigerian foods and feeds have been studied in chemical and biological tests with pigs and rats. Lysine, methionine, tryptophan and, to a lesser extent, threonine, were the amino acids present in the least amounts in most of the concentrates. Apparent and true digestibility of the concentrates were high except for palm kernel meal (PKM), African locust bean (ALB), and cashewnut scrap meal (CSM). All the animal protein concentrates showed good nutritional qualities except blood meal (BM), which, despite its high lysine content, showed very poor nutritional values and supported no gain in pigs or rats, probably due to its low methionine - cystine and tryptophan content, coupled with a possible isoleucine-leucine antagonism. Among the plant proteins, ALB showed particularly low values, while cashewnut good grade meal (CM) was found to be superior to soyabean meal (SM). The cashewnut scrap kernel meal (CSM) was inferior to the good grade meal. When evaluated at a critical protein level with growing pigs, it was found to be superior to groundnut meal. In practical type diets for fattening pigs, CSM diets were superior to the groundnut meal (GNM) diets, in terms of growth and efficiency of feed utilization. The PKM, despite its apparent balance of amino acids showed poor nutritional values for the rat. In a test with practical type diets, pigs on PKM grew at a highly significantly slower rate and had highly significantly poorer feed and protein efficiency ratios than the pigs on other diets. In another trial involving supplementation of PKM diets with either GNM, fishmeal (FM), BM or milk powder (MP), pigs on the PKM diet supplemented with 10% GNM, had a significantly slower rate of gain and efficiency of feed conversion ratio than those on other diets containing lower quantities of PKM supplemented with other protein concentrates. Supplementation of PKM diets with FM and BM gave significantly better results than supplementation with GNM or MP.

Opinions des mères d’enfants de 06 à 59 mois sur l’enrichissement des bouillies locales avec la poudre de Moringa oleifera et la farine des tourteaux d’arachide au Niger

L’objectif de cet article était de prendre la mesure de l’opinion des mères sur l’enrichissement des bouillies locales avec la poudre de Moringa oleifera et les tourteaux d’arachide, puis de mesurer leur consentement à donner cette bouillie aux enfants. Pour y parvenir, nous avons réalisé en février 2019, des entrevues individuelles avec 451 mères des quatre départements à haute prévalence de la malnutrition de la région de Maradi (Mayahi, Aguié, Tessaoua et Madarounfa). L’analyse des résultats a révélé que toutes les mères (100%) connaissaient le Moringa oleifera, les tourteaux d’arachide et leurs bienfaits nutritionnels. Ainsi, 57% des mères affirmait que le Moringa oleifera augmente le sang, 76,5% pensait que les tourteaux d’arachide contribuent à construire l’organisme, 97% des mères était d’accord à l’adjonction de ces ingrédients dans la bouille des enfants, 86,9% des mères affirmait que le Moringa oleifera et les tourteaux d’arachide sont disponibles dans leurs villages ou aux alentours et que 85% pensait être capables de se les procurer chaque jour pour en mettre dans la bouillie des enfants. Ces résultats sont un bon indicateur de l’opinion des mères sur la faisabilité de l’enrichissement des bouillies locales et pourrait être un moyen efficace pour prévenir et combattre la sous-nutrition au Niger.Mots clés : Opinions, enrichissement, bouillie, moringa, tourteaux d’arachide, sous-nutrition. English Title: Opinions of mothers of children aged 06-59 months on the enrichment of local porridge with Moringa oleifera powder and groundnut meal in NigerThe objective of this article was to measure the opinion of mothers on the enrichment of local porridge with Moringa oleifera powder and peanut cake, then measure their consent to give this porridge to children. To achieve this, we carried out in February 2019, individual interviews with 451 mothers from the four departments with a high prevalence of malnutrition in the Maradi region (Mayahi, Aguié, Tessaoua and Madarounfa). Analysis of the results revealed that all mothers (100%) were aware of Moringa oleifera, peanut cake and their nutritional benefits. 57% of mothers said that the Moringa oleifera increases blood, 76.5% thought that peanut cake helps to build the body, 97% of mothers agreed to the addition of these ingredients in the boil of the children, 86.9% of mothers said that Moringa oleifera and peanut cake are available in or around their villages and that 85% thought they would be able to get them every day for porridge children. C he results are a good indicator of maternal opinion on the feasibility of enriching local boiled and could be an effective means for the prevention and management of under-nutrition in Niger.Keywords : Opinions, enrichment, porridge, moringa, peanut cake, undernutrition.

Effect of Microbial Phytase on Nutrient Availability and Growth of Juvenile Clarias gariepinus Fed Soyabean and Groundnut-based Diets

Several studies have shown the positive effect of phytase on phosphorus utilization by fish and animals, with the use of phytase sources determined for different fish species. Few studies have tested phytase response to different diets, which may affect nutrient availability for optimum growth due to differences in phytate location. The research, therefore, studied the effect of phytase to diets based on soya bean and groundnut meal for Clarias gariepinus on nutrient availability and growth. In trial 1, four groups of soya bean S1, S2, S3 and S4 replaced fish meal at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% and supplemented with 250, 500, 750 and 1000 FTU/g phytase, respectively. In trial 2, four groups of groundnut meal diet G1, G2, G3, G4, G5 and G6, were similarly supplemented with the same phytase levels used in experiment 1. Fish meal control (S0=G0) was not supplemented with phytase. Result showed that 250 FTU/g phytase showed the highest mean weight gain for both plants. In conclusion, the research has shown that the chemical nature of phytate, rather than its concentration and location, may influence the utilization of phosphorus for optimum growth in the fish by supplementing 250 FTU/g, with a range of available phosphorus requirement of between 0.75% (Y = 0.363 + 4.155X - 2.772X2, R2 = 0.759) and 0.80% (Y = 0.307 + 3.303X - 2.059X2, R2= 0.210)