A novel mycotoxin-degrading enzyme complex can biodegrade AFB, DON, and ZEN co-contamination in both in vitro and in vivo experiments.

A novel mycotoxin-degrading enzyme complex (MDE), developed via a microcapsule coating process and containing three degrading enzymes, exhibits the ability to biodegrade aflatoxin B (AFB), deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN). This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of MDE against AFB, DON, and ZEN through in vitro and in vivo experiments. In vitro simulated digestion experiments revealed that the MDE degraded the concentrations of AFB, DON, and ZEN by 76.27 %, 74.04 %, and 60.77 %, respectively. In vivo experiments were conducted using 39 one-day-old male Cobb broilers allocated into three groups: a basal diet group (BD; CON), a BD group supplemented with 50 μg/kg AFB, 3.0 mg/kg DON, and 1.5 mg/kg ZEN (Toxins), and a BD plus Toxins diet with 0.02 % MDE (Toxins + MDE), with the experiment lasting for 14 days. Compared to the Toxins group, the Toxins + MDE group showed a tendency to increase (P = 0.09) the body weight on day 7. Moreover, the Toxins treatment increased the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations, and decreased creatinine (CREA) concentrations. Interestingly, dietary supplementation with 0.02 % MDE alleviated these adverse effects. Additionally, the Toxins and Toxins + MDE groups exhibited slight lymphocytic infiltration and mucosal epithelial detachment in the glandular stomach and the villi layer. Notably, dietary supplementation with 0.02 % MDE decreased gastric AFB, DON, and ZEN concentrations by 40.1 %, 37.7 %, and 29.1 %, respectively. In conclusion, MDE effectively degrades the concentrations of AFB, DON, and ZEN through in vitro simulated pig digestion and in vivo chick experiments.