Fungos potencialmente micotoxigênicos em rações para animais domésticos comercializadas em Serra Talhada - PE

Abstract

Due to the great domestic animal breeding in the world, the market of products directed to these animals, such asrations, has also increased. These feeds, in turn, may be subject to microbial contamination, mainly by fungi, which are microorganisms that can cause food deterioration or contamination by toxic substances such as mycotoxins, leading to financial losses and, when ingested, causing health risks to the animal. Thus, the objective of this work was to isolate, quantify and identify the filamentous fungi present in feed for dogs and cats commercializedin their original packageand bulk containers in the municipality of Serra Talhada / PE. Four samples sold in their originalpackage (two for dogs and two for cats) and four samples sold in bulk (twofor dogs and twofor cats) were analyzed using two different methods: serial dilution and direct plating for determination of quantity of Colony Forming Units (CFU) per gram of feed and the contamination index, respectively. All samples showed fungi of the generaAspergillusand Penicillium, witha maximum quantification of 36,7 x 104CFU / g of fungi for feed marketed in their original packaging, as well as for one sample of cat food thecontaminationindex was 100%. In general, rations sold in sealed packages had a higher amount of fungal counts than those sold in bulk, but there was no significant difference between the samples, according to other studies. In Brazil,there is no legislation that determines the maximum limit of fungal colonies per gram of feed, whatmakes it difficult to classify the sample as safe or not. However, the presence of Aspergillus and Penicillium under conditions of low water activity may indicate a possible production of mycotoxins in feed. Thus, it is determined that the form of commercialization is not the only factor that influences the fungal contamination of foods, although it is emphasized that the packaging protects the foods conserving their original characteristics and making them less prone to microbial contaminations.