Efficacy of Methionine Hydroxy Analogue in Ameliorating Aflatoxicosis in Japanese Quails

The efficacy of dietary methionine hydroxy analogue (MHA) to ameliorate aflatoxicosis caused by 500 ppb aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) in Japanese quails was investigated. A total of 600, day-old quail chicks were divided into ten treatment groups viz. T₁: control; T₂: T₁+500 ppb AFB₁, T₃: T₁+400 ppm MHA, T₄: T₁+500 ppm MHA, T₅: T₁+625 MHA, T₆: T₁+769 ppm MHA, T₇: T₂+400 ppm MHA, T₈: T₂+500 ppm MHA, T₉: T₂+625 MHA, and T₁₀: T₂+769 ppm MHA. Each diet was fed to four replicated groups of 15 birds each from day-old to 35d of age. The results revealed that contamination of aflatoxin (500 ppb) in the diet of Japanese quails caused significant (P<0.05) decrease in BW gain. Supplementation of MHA at 400–625 ppm (T₇ to T₉) level in AFB₁ contaminated diet though improved (P<0.05) the BW gain but could not match with the gain in control diet. However, supplementation of MHA at 769 ppm level in AFB₁ contaminated diet ameliorated the adverse effects of AFB₁ on gain in quails. The overall feed consumption remained uninfluenced due to dietary treatments. The FCR of groups T₇, T₈ and T₉ was lower (P<0.05) than that of AFB₁ fed group but higher (P<0.05) than control. The FCR of group T₁₀ was significantly (P<0.05) lower than that of AFB₁ fed group similar to control. Contamination of feed with 500 ppb AFB₁ resulted in significant increase in FCR of quails. Supplementation of MHA (769 ppm) to the AFB₁ contaminated diet resulted in significant improvement in feed efficiency that was comparable to control. Aflatoxin contamination in diet (T₂) resulted in enlarged, pale, congested and round bordered liver. Incorporation of MHA at higher level (769 ppm) in AF contaminated diet significantly reduced the effect of AFB₁ on liver morphology. It is concluded that supplementation of MHA at 769 ppm in 500 ppb AFB₁ contaminated feed ameliorated the adverse effects on BW gain and FCR in Japanese quails.