Practically relevant concentrations of deoxynivalenol in diets for growing-finishing pigs offered as mash or pellets

A complete 2 x 3 two factorial design was applied to investigate the effects of Fusarium-infected wheat (2.5 mg DON/kg, 0, 25 and 50% of the diets), feed processing (mash and pellets) and the interactions thereof on fattening pigs (96, n= 16/group). Feed-to-gain ratio was significantly increased by contaminated wheat (2.65; 2.62 and 2.73 kg/kg for diets containing 0, 25 and 50% Fusarium-infected wheat, respectively) while digestibility of nutrients and metabolizable energy were not affected by the wheat batch. The feed processing also resulted in significant differences in feed-to-gain ratio but was accompanied by significant effects on the digestibility of organic matter and crude fat and on the metabolizable energy. Clinical chemical parameters were not significantly altered by the inclusion of the infected wheat. The lymphocyte proliferation capacity was not significantly affected by any of the experimental factors. A contribution of the feed processing to the variation of the deoxynivalenol (DON) effect may not be deduced from the present results.