Fusarium spp. and fumonisin in feed for equine and its importance for occurrence of leukoencephalomalacia

In the animal feed industry, an ever growing increase in quality has been observed, but the main feature of a food is related to its security because the contamination poses a risk to animal health. The problems caused by fungal colonization is the significant loss of food quality, because even those who do not produce mycotoxins cause losses in the nutritional quality. Researches show that the most important Fumonisins are the mycotoxins found in corn, particularly when cultivated in warmer regions, produced by the fungi Fusarium verticillioides and F. proliferatum. Equine leukoencephalomalacia is a disease caused by ingestion of mycotoxin produced by the fungus F. verticillioides. Those infective mycotoxins are fumonisin (B1, B2, A1 and A2), having the B1 type as the most common and the most severe. The animals contamination occurs by ingestion of corn and its by-products in food that are contaminated by the fungus. This review addresses the importance of fungal contamination of the genus Fusarium by the production of fumonisin in horse feed and its relation to leukoencephalomalacia. Key words: Fungi, mycotoxins, corn, food.