Protective Influence of Gamma Rays and Electron-Beam Irradiation with a Commercial Toxin Binder on Toxic Effects of Aflatoxin B1 in Japanese Quails

Background: This cross sectional study was conducted to evaluate the effect of ?-rays and electron-beam irradiation with a commercial toxin binder-milbond-TX on the performance, feed components, and meat quality of Japanese quails challenged with aflatoxin B1. Methods: Overall, 168 One-d-old chicks (Japanese quails) were allocated to eight treatments with three replicates based on a completely randomized design in a 2×4 factorial arrangement. Two levels of aflatoxin (Zero and 2 ppm) were considered as the essential factor. The secondary factor was involved in four levels (Control, 27 k Gy doses of ?-rays, electron-beam irradiation, and 0.3% commercial toxin binder-milbond-TX). Results: In vitro condition showed that experiment diets do not have any effect on meat quality and feed components such as malondialdehyde, protein, fat, ash, and the dry matter. However, the highest and the lowest levels of feed intake and body weight gain were observed in the 7th treatment (2-ppm aflatoxin B1 + electron-beam irradiation) and the 2nd treatment (2-ppm aflatoxin B1 alone), respectively in 1-15 and 29-42 days (P?0.05). In addition, the highest liver weight (1.73), spleen (0.57) and bursa (0.18) were seen in the second treatment (2 ppm aflatoxin B1) alone (P?0.05) at the age of 42 days. Conclusion: ?-rays and electron-beam irradiation plus commercial toxin binder-milbond-TX can be used for aflatoxin B1 absorption in poultry diets.