A. Fernandez et al., AFLATOXIN AND ITS METABOLITES IN TISSUES FROM LAYING HENS AND BROILER-CHICKENS FED A CONTAMINATED DIET, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 65(4), 1994, pp. 407-414
Two groups of 32 hens and broiler chickens were contaminated with 2.5
and 5 mg of aflatoxin (AF) kg(-1) feed for a period of 32 days. During
this contamination 16 birds were sacrificed and aflatoxin and its met
abolites were detected using thin-layer chromatography and fluorescenc
e densitometry. The tissues analysed (liver, muscle, kidney, gizzard a
nd eggs) gave a wide range of concentrations, the lowest was found in
hen muscle (0.05 mu g kg(-1) of AFB(1)) and the highest in gizzards fr
om the 5 mg kg(-1) group of the hens (9.01 mu g kg(-1) of AFB(1)). Met
abolites of AFB(1), AFM(1) and AFB(2a) appeared in the liver but not i
n other tissues. In broiler's tissues, the following metabolities were
isolated: AFM(1) and AFB(2a) in liver, aflatoxicol in muscle and AFM(
1) and AFB(2a) in kidneys, all having concentrations lower than AFB(1)
. Aflatoxicol was isolated from one egg sample (0.32 mu g kg(-1)). For
both types of birds, aflatoxin clearance time was only 24 h for muscl
e and kidneys. In livers from the 5 mg kg(-1) group, AFM(1) and AFB(2a
) were still found 4 days after removal of the contaminated feed. In e
ggs and gizzards, aflatoxin residue was still detected on the 8th day
of the clearance period although in low quantities. In the broiler's g
izzards, clearance time was only 24 h. These results suggest that afla
toxin transfer to edible tissues is very small and the danger of conta
minations to humans is also very small, except in the case of gizzards
.