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Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-09-10 Origin: Site
In modern intensive animal husbandry, animal feed safety directly impacts animal growth performance, immune health, reproductive capacity, and economic benefits. Feed safety is crucial to animal husbandry safety, and animal husbandry safety is vital to food safety. However, during the entire process of feed production, from planting and harvesting raw materials to processing, storage, and transportation, contamination by molds and toxins due to factors such as climate and environment is unavoidable. In such cases, animal experts or feed formulation manufacturers suggest that adding a toxin binder to the feed can effectively solve this problem of mold and toxin contamination.
Toxin binders are functional additives for animal feed. They primarily work through mechanisms such as physical adsorption, ion exchange, and biochemical chelation. They block the absorption of toxins by the animal's gastrointestinal tract, reducing the damage to the animal's body caused by various toxins.
Common aliases for toxin binders include: Mycotoxin Binder, Mycotoxin Adsorbent, Mycotoxin Adsorber, Mycotoxin Detoxifier, Mycotoxin Binding Agent, Mycotoxin Sequestrant, Mycotoxin Remover, Anti-mycotoxin Additive, Mycotoxin Scavenger, Mycotoxin Mitigator, Anti-mycotoxin Feed Additive.
Common toxins in animal feed include aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), vomitoxin (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), fumonisin, T-2/HT-2 toxin, and ochratoxin A (OTA). The following table clearly shows the main molds that produce these toxins, the feed ingredients in which they are primarily found, and their effects on different parts of the animal:
Toxin | English | Main toxin-producing bacteria | Main polluting raw materials | Main target animals/hazards |
Aflatoxin | Aflatoxins, AF | Aspergillus | Corn, peanuts, cottonseed, etc. | Liver, immune system |
Vomiting toxins | DON | Fusarium | Wheat, corn, barley | Feed intake, intestines |
Zearalenone | ZEA | Fusarium | Corn, wheat | Reproductive system |
Fumonisin | Fumonisins, FUM | Fusarium | Corn and its by-products | Liver, kidneys, nervous system |
T-2/HT-2 toxin | T-2/HT-2 | Fusarium | cereals | Digestive tract, immune system, blood |
Ochratoxin A | OTA | Aspergillus/Penicillium | Grains, beans, etc | Kidney |
Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of the most common mycotoxins in animal feed and is extremely toxic. It has a significant impact on animal liver metabolism, immune system damage, growth performance, feed conversion rate, and reproduction. Special attention should be paid to dairy cows, as ingestion of feed containing aflatoxin can affect the safety of milk.
Generally, different animals have varying sensitivities to aflatoxin. Young animals are typically more sensitive due to their weaker immune systems, so special attention should be paid to feed safety when feeding them.
Deoxynivalenol (DON), a vomitoxin, is commonly found in wheat, corn, barley, bran, and DDGS. This toxin affects feed intake in animals, causing vomiting. It weakens the animal's gastrointestinal tract, leading to intestinal dysfunction, impaired nutrient absorption, and damage to the immune system, resulting in reduced daily weight gain and stunted growth. Vomitoxin has the greatest impact on pigs, and pig farmers need to monitor feed levels for this toxin closely.
Zearalenone (ZEA) is a toxin that primarily damages the reproductive system of animals. Therefore, this toxin needs to be closely monitored in the feed of sows, gilts, piglets, breeding pigs, and other reproductive animals. This toxin can cause problems such as vulvar swelling, systemic abnormalities, abnormal estrus, decreased reproductive performance, and reduced embryo quality.
Fumonisins (FUM) are toxins commonly found in corn and corn by-products. This toxin affects the liver, kidneys, lungs, nervous system, and lipid metabolism in horses and pigs.
T-2/HT-2 toxins belong to the trichothecene family of toxins. These toxins can damage the oral cavity and intestines of animals, affecting feed intake and suppressing immune function. If animals inadvertently consume feed containing T-2/HT-2 toxins, their growth performance will be affected, and their blood system will also be impacted. Traditional mineral adsorption methods are not effective for treating these toxins, necessitating consideration of biodegradation or enzymatic hydrolysis approaches.
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a type of mycotoxin that can be found in grain and legume feeds, primarily harming the kidney function of animals. When animals ingest feed containing this toxin, the lack of a corresponding binder to adsorb the toxin allows it to enter the animal's body, leading to abnormal kidney function, decreased feed utilization, impaired immune function, and ultimately, reduced growth rate, negatively impacting the economic benefits of animal husbandry.
The harm caused by mycotoxins can be addressed using common traditional toxin binders and emerging enzymes or microorganisms.
When toxin binders are added to feed, their main function is to adsorb free toxins, bind or chelate certain metals, or through biodegradation and transformation, excrete the complexes that are ultimately not absorbed by the animal. This reduces the damage of various toxins to the liver, nervous system, immune system, and reproductive system.
Inorganic mineral adsorbents used as toxin binders mainly include: bentonite, montmorillonite (MMT), hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS), zeolite, clinoptilolite, sepiolite, palygorskite, kaolinite, and activated carbon.
Among them, aluminosilicates have the strongest bonding ability and the highest market share.
The working principle of these inorganic adsorbents is to preferentially adsorb aflatoxin by utilizing their layered or porous crystal structure, relying on their huge specific surface area, cation exchange capacity, electrostatic attraction, and hydrogen bonds.
The Advantages of Inorganic Mineral Adsorbents Are:
They have an ample supply, low cost, and high adsorption efficiency for aflatoxin.
They are chemically stable, heat-resistant, and do not lose their effectiveness during processing and granulation.
The Disadvantages of Inorganic Mineral Adsorbents Are:
They have a poor adsorption effect on other toxins, such as vomitoxin DON, zearalenone ZEN, and T-2 toxin.
They can indiscriminately adsorb nutrients, including vitamins, amino acids, and trace elements, causing nutrient loss in animals.
These materials are derived from natural minerals, which pose a risk of heavy metal contamination, and the quality of raw materials varies greatly from region to region.
Future research on this inorganic adsorbent will focus on acidification and thermal modification to enhance its binding capacity for weakly polar toxins and reduce the side effects of nutrient adsorption.
Organic polysaccharide adsorbents are primarily extracted from biological sources, using natural polysaccharides as the base material. These adsorbents exhibit high biocompatibility and do not readily absorb nutrients from the body. Through a three-dimensional network polysaccharide structure, they bind various polar and weakly polar mycotoxins via hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonds, and coordination bonds, without relying on simple electrostatic adsorption. They are commonly used in high-end feed additives and food industry applications.
Representative products include: yeast cell wall extract, esterified glucomannan, and plant microfiber.
The Advantages of Organic Polysaccharide Adsorbents Are:
They can adsorb various toxins and are effective against T-2 and fumonisins, with even more pronounced effects on zearalenone (ZEN).
They have a low dosage, high specificity, and low adsorption of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.
They help maintain gut health, boost animal immunity, and alleviate immunosuppression caused by toxins.
The Limitations of Organic Polysaccharide Adsorbents Are:
Their ability to adsorb aflatoxin is weaker than that of high-quality montmorillonite.
The raw material cost is high, and their effectiveness will be reduced under high temperature processing.
Adsorption performance is affected by gastrointestinal pH fluctuations , yeast strains, and cell wall disruption processes .
Biological detoxifiers, strictly speaking, are a combination of enzymes and probiotics, and are commonly used in compound toxin binders. Common enzymes and microorganisms include: zearalenone hydrolase, vomitoxin decyclooxygenase, fumonisin esterase; and functional strains such as Bacillus subtilis and lactic acid bacteria.
Biological detoxifying agents work by destroying the molecular structure of toxins, eliminating their biological activity at the source, and transforming them into non-toxic metabolites. This method leaves no residue and completely eliminates the problem of adsorption saturation.
The advantage of this enzymatically hydrolyzed toxin binder is that it can completely eliminate mycotoxins in feed.
The disadvantages are: high requirements for feed processing temperature, pH and storage conditions; strong strain specificity, with one enzyme targeting only one toxin; and high cost.
To adapt to the complex biological environment of the animal's gastrointestinal tract, and because a single toxin binder often cannot solve all problems, most toxin binders on the market are composite toxin binders. The mainstream formulations include: modified montmorillonite + yeast cell wall + mycotoxin-degrading enzyme + plant liver-protecting extracts or bentonite + yeast cell wall + enzyme + antioxidant.
The formulation strategy is as follows: inorganic mineral adsorbents are responsible for dealing with aflatoxin, organic polysaccharides are responsible for dealing with ZEN/T-2 toxins, enzymes are responsible for breaking down difficult-to-adsorb toxins such as DON , and liver-protecting ingredients are added to alleviate the damage caused by toxins that have already entered the body .
Ideally, a single toxin adsorbent would be able to perfectly eliminate all mycotoxins in feed. However, the reality is far more complex than this ideal. The animal's gastrointestinal digestive environment must be considered, and the in vitro adsorption rate does not necessarily equate to the actual effect on the animal.
Examine the basic ingredients of the feed and select those that pose the greatest risk of toxins. For aflatoxin, consider the adsorption properties of the toxin binder. If it is deoxynivalenol (DON), consider the adsorption or biodegradation capabilities of the toxin binder.
Feed contains numerous ingredients, and negligence in one step can easily lead to the development of multiple molds. It's crucial to examine whether the toxin binder has the ability to control multiple toxins.
The gastrointestinal environment of animals is complex and variable, with pH levels changing depending on the location. High-quality toxin binders can maintain effective stability in this variable environment.
After toxins are absorbed, will they be released again during the process of being eliminated from the body, and then reabsorbed? High-quality toxin binders can avoid this problem, and at the same time, they can adsorb toxins without adsorbing nutrients.
Mineral products are naturally sourced, but the presence of heavy metals must be avoided, as excessive levels can have adverse effects on animal health. This factor needs to be considered.
The core applications of toxin binders in feed are: pig feed additives, poultry feed additives, ruminant feed additives, and aquatic animal feed additives. Proper use of toxin binders can reduce the effective absorption of mycotoxins in the gastrointestinal tract, alleviate toxin exposure stress in animals, support intestinal barrier function, help maintain normal immune status, support feed intake and nutrient utilization, and maintain normal growth, reproduction, and production performance.
From another perspective, for farmers, higher feed efficiency leads to better animal production performance and better economic benefits from farming.
This article mainly introduces toxin binder in animal feed, but mycotoxin remover actually have a wide range of applications. They can also be used in surgical and medical fields, food processing, and for the adsorption of environmental toxins and the removal of harmful components from special industrial systems.
(1) The Feed Ingredients were Free of Mold
Some industry practitioners believe that if feed is free of mold, there is no need to add adhesives, which ignores the dangers of trace amounts of hidden toxins .
(2) Anti-Mycotoxin Feed Additives Can Replace Raw Material Testing
Mycotoxin binders are a risk control measure and cannot replace the testing and quality management of high-risk raw materials.
(3) Mycotoxin Binders Are Equivalent to Preservatives
Toxin binders are not used to prevent mold growth. A single binder cannot achieve the dual effects of preventing mold and detoxifying, nor does it control the spoilage of raw materials.
Q1: Can bentonite absorb mycotoxins?
A1: Yes. Bentonite (montmorillonite) has a strong adsorption effect on aflatoxin, but a relatively weak adsorption effect on vomitoxin (DON); modified bentonite has improved adsorption performance and belongs to the classic mineral mycotoxin adsorbents.
Q2: How to Treat Mycotoxin Poisoning in Cattle?
A2: Immediately discontinue use of moldy feed; administer oral activated charcoal/montmorillonite to the intestines to absorb toxins; administer intravenous glucose and vitamin C to protect the liver and promote diuresis; supplement with vitamin E, provide symptomatic fluid replacement, and control secondary infections.
Q3: Which Are Natural Detoxifying Binders?
A3: Bentonite, zeolite, attapulgite (minerals); yeast cell wall glucan, activated carbon, chitosan (natural biological sources).
Q4: What are anti-mold agents?
A4: Feed additives inhibit/kill mold spores, prevent mold growth and reproduction, and prevent feed from becoming moldy; ⚠️ Anti-mold agents cannot adsorb mycotoxins that have already been produced.
Q5: What is the most sustainable granular adhesive?
A5: Lignosulfonate, a byproduct of the paper industry and a biodegradable plant-derived compound, is a mainstream sustainable binder for feed pellets worldwide, enhancing pellet durability.
In reality, feed molds originate from complex and diverse sources, are highly concealed, and are difficult to completely control. Using toxin-based adhesives can reduce the risk of toxin exposure in animals, but these binders are not a panacea and cannot address all mycotoxins.
The real solution lies in strengthening quality control throughout the entire feed production chain to effectively prevent pollution. Simultaneously, utilizing state-of-the-art scientific methods can ensure mold and toxicity prevention while maximizing nutrient utilization and minimizing environmental impact.
Polifar remains committed to providing high-quality mycotoxin binder from the perspective of global farmers. We offer one-stop purchasing to support the efficient development of the livestock industry!
