Microbial degradation of DON

Contamination of food and feed by mycotoxins poses major risks for human or animal health and leads to economic losses. Next to prevention and intervention measures on the field, remediation of mycotoxins in contaminated feed is a growing sector. Remediation is already applied through the use of binders (clay or yeast derived products), but this adsorption between the binder and mycotoxin is reversible and pH depending. Moreover, these binders negatively influence the transfer of medication to the bloodstream. Therefore, there is need to develop other detoxification strategies. This can be achieved through microbial degradation of mycotoxins. Matrices with potential levels of mycotoxins or other complex molecules will be screened on the presence of microorganisms which can break down mycotoxins. The focus will be on mycotoxins DON and enniatin B. The incidence of these mycotoxins is respectively 100% and 91% in Flemish corn silage. Enrichment cultures for DON at 50 mg/kg have been established for the matrices: sheep rumen fluid, monoculture corn field soil, digestate from an anaerobic digester plant and activated sludge from a water treatment plant. Clear detoxification of DON by the enrichment cultures of soil and activated sludge was assessed with a bio-assay using Lemna minor (duckweed), whereas the actual degradation of DON through these cultures was confirmed with ELISA