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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #408008
Research Project: Strategies to Reduce Mycotoxin Contamination in Animal Feed and its Effect in Poultry Production Systems

Location: Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research

Title: Synergistic effects of essential oils and organic acids against aspergillus flavus contamination in poultry feed

Author
item Satterlee, Tim
item McDonough, Callie
item Gold, Scott
item CHEN, CHONGXIAO - University Of Georgia
item Glenn, Anthony - Tony
item Pokoo-Aikins, Anthony

Submitted to: Toxins
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/27/2023
Publication Date: 10/31/2023
Citation: Satterlee, T.R., Mcdonough, C.M., Gold, S.E., Chen, C., Glenn, A.E., Pokoo-Aikins, A. 2023. Synergistic effects of essential oils and organic acids against aspergillus flavus contamination in poultry feed. Toxins. 15,635. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15110635.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15110635

Interpretive Summary: Organic acids (OA) and essential oils (EO) are used in the poultry industry to control microbes and to improve poultry health, growth, and meat quality. A common mold that affects the quality and safety of corn in storage is Aspergillus flavus (AF), which contaminates food and feed with the harmful toxin called aflatoxin. Presence of aflatoxin in a poultry diet may affect feed consumption, feed efficiency, weight gain, egg production, fertility, chick quality and meat yield. OA have been reported to stop the growth of this mold in poultry feed. EO have also been shown to suppress AF growth. In this study, combinations of EO and OA were evaluated to evaluate synergistic inhibition of AF growth and aflatoxin production. Overall, cinnamon oil was shown to have the highest synergy with all the OA tested, requiring only low amounts to fully suppress AF growth on corn kernels. This study shows that combining certain EO and OA offers a natural way for controlling the spread of mold in animal feed. Given that these compounds are currently used in poultry production, this synergy approach can be applied in poultry feed.

Technical Abstract: Organic acids and essential oils are commonly used in the poultry industry as antimicrobials and for their beneficial effects on gut health, growth performance, and meat quality. A common postharvest storage fungal colonist, Aspergillus flavus, contaminates poultry feed with the highly detrimental mycotoxin aflatoxin. Aflatoxin adversely affects poultry feed intake, feed conversion efficiency, weight gain, egg production, fertility, hatchability, and poultry meat yield. Organic acids such as acetic acid have been reported to inhibit the growth of Aspergillus spp. isolated from poultry feed. Essential oils have also been shown to suppress A. flavus growth. With this in mind, we evaluated if synergy between combined essential oils (cinnamon, lemongrass, and oregano) and organic acids (acetic, butyric, and propionic) aflatoxin contamination in poultry feed. Overall cinnamon oil was shown to have the highest synergy with all the organic acids tested requiring the lowest concentrations to fully suppress A. flavus growth on corn kernels. With the evident strong synergism demonstrated, combining certain essential oils and organic acids offers a potentially effective natural method for controlling postharvest aflatoxin contamination in poultry feed. This strategy has potential application in poultry feed.