Survey of Poultry Feeds for Aflatoxins from the Riyadh Region PDF

Keywords

poultry feeds, aflatoxin, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Since aflatoxins are formed in all the feed ingredients (maize, barley, soybean) utilized in manufacturing poultry feeds, our objectives of this study were to determine the occurrence and the level of aflatoxins in the poultry feeds manufactured locally. The feed samples were collected from eighteen farms around the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia. At least three or four different sample lots were collected from each farm. In a survey of 71 samples analyzed, the results obtained revealed aflatoxins in 55 samples (77%). Of these positive aflatoxin samples about 38% were above the present FDA guidelines of 20 ppb. The levels of total aflatoxins detected in poultry feeds ranged between 5.4- 121.2 ppb. Aflatoxins B1 and B2 were the only toxins detected in the feed samples and concentrations of these aflatoxins varied greatly among samples. In general, results showed a high incidence of aflatoxins contamination in chicken feed samples tested.