Efficacy of DL-methionine in preventing aflatoxicosis in Japanese quails

The efficacy of dietary methionine level to ameliorate aflatoxicosis of quails containing 500 ppb aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) was investigated. A total of 360, day-old quail chicks were divided into six treatment groups viz. T₁-control; T₂-T₁ + 500 ppb AFB₁, T_3-T₁ + 250 ppm supplemental DL-methionine (DLM), T₄-T₁ + 500 ppm supplemental DLM, T₅-T₂ + 250 ppm supplemental DLM, and T₆-T₂ + 500 ppm supplemental DLM. Each diet was fed to four replicated groups of 15 birds each from day-old to 35 days of age. The results showed that inclusion of 500 ppb of AFB₁ in the diet (T₂) resulted in significant decrease in the body weight gain (BWG). The overall BWG in group T₆ was higher (P<0.05) than that of T₂ and comparable to that of T₁. The FCR of control group was lower(P<0.05) than that of toxin alone fed group (T₂). Addition of both the levels of methionine (T₅ and T₆) to the aflatoxin contaminated diet resulted in improvement (P<0.05) in the feed conversion efficiency, and the FCR of group T₆ was statistically equal to that of control. Contamination of 500 ppb of AFB₁ in the diet (T₂) resulted in significant changes in the blood biochemicals (serum protein, uric acid, cholesterol, AST and ALT) and relative weights of different organs(liver, kidney, spleen and bursa of Fabricius). Methionine addition at 250 ppm level to aflatoxin contaminated diet partially reduced the adverse effects of aflatoxicosis, at 500 ppm supplemental level completely ameliorated the adverse effects of aflatoxicosis on blood biochemicals and organs. It was concluded that supplementation of methionine (as DL-methionine) at 500 ppm level in aflatoxin (500 ppb AFB₁) contaminated diet ameliorated the adverse effects of aflatoxin on growth performance, feed conversion efficiency, yield of different organs and blood biochemicals in growing Japanese quails.