Fungal contamination and natural occurrence of T-2 toxin in poultry feed

In this study, a total of 41 poultry (chicken and laying hens) feed samples collected from different farms in Serbia in the beginning of 2014 were investigated for total fungal count, presence of potential toxigenic fungi and natural occurrence of T-2 toxin. The number of total fungi was determined using the plate count method whereas T-2 toxin was detected by enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) method. Relative high percent of investigated poultry feed samples (43.90%) had the total fungal count 1 - 7 x 102 CFU g-1, while in 29.27% of the samples that number was 1.4 - 14 x 104 CFU g-1. In regard to potentially toxigenic fungi, species of Fusarium genus were isolated in most of poultry feed samples (58.54%), while species from genus Alternaria were isolated in least of samples (9.76%). The presence of T-2 toxin was detected in 75.61% of the samples, with concentration of 25.07 - 426.08 ig kg-1 (in average, 55.34 ig kg-1). The statistical insignificant negative correlation (r = - 0.05) was obtained between total fungal count and concentrations of T-2 toxin. In addition, a total fungal count and content of T-2 toxin in the samples were not above the maximum allowed levels, although the presence of species from genus Fusarium was found in 58.54% samples. These results indicated that the sanitary and hygienic conditions during the production of poultry feed in Serbia have been at satisfactory level. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR-31023 and TR-31033]