evaluation of the efficacy of esterified glucomannan, sodium bentonite and different levels of humic acid to ameliorate the toxic effects of aflatoxin in broilers

a study was conducted to determine the efficacy of esterified glucomannan, sodium bentonite and humic acid, in counteracting the toxic effects of aflatoxin in experimentally contaminated diets (254ppbaf) fed to broiler chickens. 7-day-old male broiler chicks of similar weight were randomly assigned to one of the nine dietary treatments with four replicates of 12 chicks each. chicks were grouped based on the following dietary treatments: 1) control; 2) experimentally contaminated diet; 3,4,5,6 and 7) experimentally contaminated diet supplemented with 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8% and 1%, humic acid respectively; 8 and 9) experimentally contaminated diet supplemented with 0.5% sodium bentonite and 0.1% esterified glucomannan, respectively. the experiment lasted for 35 days. compared with the control, the experimentally contaminated diet significantly increased the activities of γ-glutamyl transferase, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate amino transferase and feed consumption and resulted in poor feed efficiency. increased relative weights of liver and decreased relative weights of bursa of fabricius were observed in chicks fed the experimentally contaminated diet. further, feeding a contaminated diet was associated with significant decreases in serum albumin, total protein, uric acid and cholesterol. in this study, humic acid proved to be much more effective in the amelioration of aflatoxicosis in broilers than the sodium bentonite and esterified glucomannan.