Suchergebnisse

Mycotoxins represent a risk to the feed supply chain with an impact on economies and international trade. A high percentage of feed samples have been reported to be contaminated with more than one mycotoxin. In most cases, the concentrations were low enough to ensure compliance with the European Union (EU) guidance values or maximum admitted levels. However, mycotoxin co-contamination might still exert adverse effects on animals due to additive/synergistic interactions. Studies on the fate of mycotoxins during cereal processing, such as milling, production of ethanol fuels, and beer brewing, have shown that mycotoxins are concentrated into fractions that are commonly used as animal feed. Published data show a high variability in mycotoxin repartitioning, mainly due to the type of mycotoxins, the level and extent of fungal contamination, and a failure to understand the complexity of food processing technologies. Precise knowledge of mycotoxin repartitioning during technological processes is critical and may provide a sound technical basis for feed managers to conform to legislation requirements and reduce the risk of severe adverse market and trade repercussions. Regular, economical and straightforward feed testing is critical to reach a quick and accurate diagnosis of feed quality. The use of rapid methods represents a future challenge.

The electronic nose is an instrument that comprises an array of electronic chemical sensors and an appropriate pattern recognition system and capable of recognizing simple or complex volatile organic compounds' (VOCs) profiles associated to a product odour. The e-nose analysis of VOCs is of increasing interest as an analytical tool in many research areas, such as agricultural, food, pharmaceutical, biomedical, cosmetics, environmental, food, manufacturing, military. In the food industry, the electronic nose could represent a rapid and reliable tool for quality and safety assessment, freshness and shelf-life evaluation, authenticity assessment, foodstuff recognition, and process monitoring. This paper provides an overview of the applications of electronic nose in feed analysis and animal nutrition. Focus is placed on the applications as an analytical tool for quality control and management in the cereal and pet food industry. Further, this paper provides a critical outlook on the developments needed for transitioning of electronic nose use from research to industrial application in real contexts.