Natural Solution to Mycotoxin Risks: Anpro Does Not Bind Minerals & Vitamins

Summary

  • Anpro adsorbents are effective at reducing the contamination of secondary metabolites from moulds.
  • Anpro adsorbents do not bind minerals or vitamins.
  • Anpro is a broad spectrum, cost effective management tool.

Factors Affecting Binding

There are many factors that may affect the ability of any adsorbent to bind mycotoxins. Some of the main ones are:
  • Amount of binder and mycotoxin present.
  • Charge of the binder and mycotoxin, and distribution of that charge.
  • pH of the solution.
  • Surface area of the binder and mycotoxin.
  • Shape of the binder and mycotoxin.

Sepiolite

Specially selected sepiolite is a major component of the proprietary range of Anpro adsorbents. Sepiolite is classed as magnesium hydrosilicate and has a very loosely packed and porous structure. This accounts for its ability to absorb a lot of water and oil without swelling. This sepiolite clay has been chosen due to the properties shown in Table 1.

How Does Sepiolite Work?

Sepiolite is arranged in “blocks and tunnels” (sometimes referred to as rod and needle structure (Fig 1)). These consist of silica sheets sandwiching a magnesia sheet. This is not a uniform structure, with discontinuities present giving rise to the “tunnels”. 

Silanol groups (SiOH) present at the borders of the blocks along with magnesium ions are the main areas for adsorbtion. There is very little charge on these silanol groups, so there is no need for exchangeable cations, resulting in a low CEC. (Adapted from Galán, 1996 & Bilgiç, 2005).

Vitamin Binding

As part of a wider EU study, the effect of Anpro on the apparent % digestibility of vitamin A and thiamine was investigated in broilers. 

300 newly hatched, male broilers (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to 30 pens, with 10 birds per pen. There were a total of 5 treatments, with 2 used for the faecal digestibility study,with samples taken between days 28-35 of age. Results are shown in Table 2.

As seen in Table 2, there was no effect of the additive on apparent digestibility of either of the two vitamins. 

Mineral Binding

Samples of Anpro were tested for their effect of binding minerals in vitro by Alimetrics (Finland). Three doses of binder were used: 0.1%, 0.5% and 1.0% at both pH2.5 and pH6.5. The macro minerals assessed were potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na) and phosphorus (P). 

As can be seen in Figures 2 & 3, there was no effect of Anpro on the recovery of minerals from the solution, i.e., Anpro did not bind any of the minerals, at any dose or either pH tested.

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