THE ABILITY OF GROWING CHICKS TO RECOVER FROM SHORT-TERM EXPOSURE TO DIETARY WHEAT ERGOT AND THE EFFECT OF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL TREATMENTS ON ERGOT TOXICITY

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Abstract
Three experiments were conducted to investigate the ability of growing Leghorn chicks to recover from short-term exposure to dietary ergot and the efficacy of three methods used to reduce the toxicity of ingested ergot. Chicks, 32 days of age, previously fed up to 2% (wt/wt) of a wheat-ergot (0.31% total alkaloids) contaminated diet, demonstrated a significant (P < 0.0001) ability to recover from the effects of the ergot when given an ergot-free diet as indicated by improved performance (increased relative feed consumption and weight gain and decreased feed to gain ratio) (exp. I). In the second experiment, ergot was pretreated with chlorine gas for 15, 30 or 60 min or heated at 200 °C for 10, 15, 20 or 30 min in an attempt to reduce the toxic effect of the ground ergot sclerotia. When the treated ergot samples were fed to 7-day-old male Leghorn chicks at a dietary concentration of 4% (wt/wt), the chlorine gas treatments for 30 and 60 min and heat treatment for 30 min reduced the effects of ergot on chick performance to values equivalent to those obtained for a diet that contained 2% untreated ergot (wt/wt). Less, but still significant (P < 0.05) decreases were also observed with the other treatments. The third study tested a commercial mycotoxin antitoxicant, Antitox Vana (polyvinyl polypyrrolidone), which was added to the diet at concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.8% (wt/wt) in combination with ergot at concentrations of 0, 1, 2 and 4% (wt/wt). At the concentrations tested, Antitox Vana was not able to counteract the appetite and growth depressing effects of ergot (P > 0.51). These results demonstrate that although the use of Antitox Vana may be ineffective against ergot, chlorine gas or heat treatment of ground ergot can, under proper conditions, effectively reduce the toxic effect of ergot. Such treatments could be used to counter the effect of ergot in contaminated grain when fed to growing chicks. Key words: Ergot, alkaloids, treatments, growing chicks, recovery, Antitox Vana, chlorine gas, heat