October 28, 2014

BIOMIN's mycotoxin product first of its kind to receive EU authorisation
 

BIOMIN's FUMzyme^® is the first-ever purified enzyme to have received authorisation from the European Union as "substances for reduction of the contamination of feed by mycotoxins". 

FUMzyme^®, part of the company's  Mycofix^® product line, was originally isolated from the fumonisin degrading soil bacteria Sphingopyxis sp. MTA 144 and identified as fumonisin esterase by the BIOMIN Research Center.

The product is effective in degrading fumonisins to compounds of significantly lower toxicity in the gastrointestinal tract of animals. The sphinganine/sphingosine ratio, considered the most sensitive endpoint for fumonisin toxicosis, was included as an important parameter in several short- and long-term feeding studies conducted with pigs.

These trials consistently demonstrated that the addition of the product significantly reduced the sphinganine/sphingosine ratio of pigs fed with fumonisin-contaminated diets. Sphinganine/sphingosine values generally returned to levels seen in animals fed with corresponding diets free from fumonisins.

Until now, the binding of fumonisins to adsorptive substances was the only solution available to counter fumonisin intoxication. Due to the molecular structure of these mycotoxins and pH dependence of the reaction, fumonisins are only insufficiently adsorbed by mycotoxin-binding products in the gastrointestinal tract.

According to the current BIOMIN Mycotoxin Survey results of 2014 in which more than 3,500 samples worldwide were analysed, fumonisins were found in 82% of all corn samples with an average contamination of over 2,200 ppb.

In 2013, BIOMIN became the first company to receive the European Commission authorisation for feed additives with mycotoxin-counteracting properties. The authorisations were for the deoxynivalenol-biotransforming product Biomin^® BBSH 797 and the aflatoxin-binding bentonite Mycofix^® Secure.

FUMzyme^® received the positive vote of the EU standing committee on Food Chain and Animal Health in late September this year.