VANADIUM IN POULTRY NUTRITION

Vanadium (V) is essential element for poultry nutrition. Relatively low level of V (< 10 μg/kg of feed) is known to reduce both growth in chicks and Haugh unit value of eggs. The National Research Council (NRC) recommends the presence of very low levels of V in poultry diets, with the maximum tolerance level (MTL) being 10 mg/kg. Excessive vanadium in poultry diets has been shown to be detrimental to egg production, interior quality of eggs (albumen height), body weight and feed consumption. There is little information on the content of V in feedstuffs. Phosphates are known to be the cause of excessive V in various types of poultry diets. The objective of this study was to obtain information about the content of vanadium in phosphates and poultry feed. The samples were prepared by microwave wet digestion. Content of V was determined by the method of coupled plasma with mass spectrometry on the Agilent ICP-MS 7700. The concentrations of vanadium determined in the examined samples were above the minimum recommended levels for poultry feed, still not exceeding the maximum tolerable values.