Effect of dietary citrinin on the performance of broiler chicken

The effect of various levels of citrinin alone and in combination with aflatoxin in diet was studied on the performance of broiler chicks from 0–4 weeks of age. Two hundred and ten, one day old broiler chicks were divided into seven treatment groups (T₁ to T₇), each group replicated thrice having ten chicks. The treatment groups were given seven experimental diets viz., basal diet (T₁), basal diet + 100 ppm citrinin (T₂), basal diet + 200 ppm citrinin (T₃), basal diet + 300 ppm citrinin (T₄), basal diet + 400 ppm citrinin (T₅), basal diet + 500 ppm citrinin (T₆) and basal diet + 500 ppm citrinin + 0.5 ppm aflatoxin (T₇). Among the various mycotoxin fed treatments, the broiler chicks gained significantly higher body weight at 100 ppm citrinin and remained comparable to that of control. On the other hand, increasing the citrinin level beyond 100 ppm in the diet caused significant reduction in weight gain. Birds fed 100 ppm citrinin consumed comparable amount of feed to that of control, whereas increasing citrinin in the diet from 100 ppm onwards caused reduction in feed intake. Feed conversion ratio remained comparable among different groups fed up to 300 ppm citrinin. It is concluded that dietary citrinin at 100 ppm level did not cause any significant reduction in body weight gain of broiler chicks up to four week of age, however the values were numerically lower than that of control. Addition of 0.5 ppm aflatoxin along with 500 ppm citrinin further deteriorated the examined parameters.