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Mycophenolic acid in silage
I Schneweis1, K Meyer, S Hörmansdorfer
1Institute of Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Technische Universität München, 85354 Freising-Weihenstephan, Federal Republic of Germany.
Abstract:
We examined 233 silage samples and found that molds were present in 206 samples with counts between 1 x 10(3) and 8.9 x 10(7) (mean, 4.7 x 10(6)) CFU/g. Mycophenolic acid, a metabolite of Penicillium roqueforti, was detected by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in 74 (32%) of these samples at levels ranging from 20 to 35,000 (mean, 1,400) microg/kg. This compound has well-known immunosuppressive properties, so feeding with contaminated silage may promote the development of infectious diseases in livestock.
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