Abstract

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of commercial analogue mycotoxin adsorbent (CAMA) and Gepasorbex as a new complex mycotoxin-adsorbent additive on growth performance and serum retinol, tocopherol and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol concentrations of fattening young pigs (n=90), which fed on the combined feed contaminated with mycotoxins. Animals were randomly allocated to 3 groups with 30 heads in each: the first group of pigs (control) fed the basic diet in grower and finisher periods; the second group fed the basic diet with the 0.15% by weight of feed of the mycotoxins-adsorbent as commercial analogue; the third group fed the basic diet with the addition of 0.15% by weight of feed of Gepasorbex, a new compound of mycotoxin-adsorbent additive. On the 48th and 88th days of fattening, blood samples were taken from the pigs for testing the vitamins A, E and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol levels. Piglets from third experimental group followed by group 2 animals showed better growth rates and significantly (P<0.001, P<0.01, respectively) exceeded analogues from the control group in live weight and average daily gain in all age periods which showed a noticeable positive effect of diet’s mycotoxin adsorbents, especially Gepasorbex, on animal growth rates. The results of the laboratory study showed that in the pigs from third experimental group, which fed on Gepasorbex with compound feed, the serum concentrations of retinol, tocopherol and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol were within the biological reference interval and significantly exceeded (P<0.05) similar indicators from the control group in both periods. The results of the experiment showed that when animals are subjected to diets contaminated by mycotoxins, use of a new complex action preparation like Gepasorbex can mitigate the negative impacts of mycotoxins on animal performance, and is more capable to remove mycotoxins without binding to dietary vitamins.