Afla1milk

Project AFLA1MILK - Nutritional approaches to reduce AFM1 in cow's milk
MIPAAFT – “Progetti di ricerca fondo latte”
D.M. N. 27443 del 25/09/2018

Duration
24 months, from January 2019 to January 2021

Principal investigator for University of Udine 
prof. Mauro Spanghero

Summary
The food and feedstuff contaminated by mycotoxins represents a significant problem. Mycotoxins occur more frequently in areas in which the weather conditions are favorable for the growth of molds. The high temperatures and the low rainfalls have increased the risk of aflatoxins contamination of the plants. Moreover, also the environmental conditions related to storage are factors which influence the presence of mycotoxins in food and feed. A wide range of commodities can be contaminated by mycotoxins both pre- and post-harvest. These are found in many animal feedstuff and in animal products such as meat, eggs and milk obtained by the livestock, which have ingested contaminated feeds. Since post-harvest inactivation strategies (including chemical or physical removal) are often not sufficiently effective and are rather expensive and not compatible with organic production, it is necessary to consider the biological transformations. For these reasons, the addition of corn silage additives with protective properties against mycotoxins and nutritional approaches, which are capable of increasing the ruminal detoxifying action, are becoming increasingly interesting. Based on these considerations, the objectives of the project are to (i) study the post-harvesting and storage conditions of corn silage forage in order to reduce the contamination of aflatoxins and to (ii) evaluate the ability of cows to increase the ruminal detoxification capacity and biotransformation of aflatoxins in less or non-toxic metabolites. The aim of this project is to identify some specific feeding strategies for cows that can be applied by farmers to reduce the carry-over of toxin from animal to milk.
The results of the project will help to identify the practical feeding-dietetic indications for the detoxification of feedstuff, which ensure that the limit of aflatoxin in milk and in dairy products is respected.

Project partners
University of Udine (Lead Partner)
University of Piacenza (UCSC)

Working group
Prof. Mauro Spanghero, Dr. Carla Fabro, Dr. Eleonora Gulisano, Dr.Chiara Sarnataro

For more information