High-carotenoid maize as feed and food component: mycotoxin contamination, thermal processing, bioavailability and poultry meat production.

High-carotenoid (HC) maize was genetically engineered to accumulate high levels of carotenoids, using as a basis a South African white maize (M37W). During three consecutive harvest seasons (2013, 2014 and 2015), HC maize and its near isogenic line (M37W) were cultivated in an experimental field in Lleida (Catalonia, Northeastern Spain). Fusarium spp. infected most maize kernels, subsequently, fumonisin contamination was found in both maize varieties in all the years of study, but the proportion of contaminated grains was substantially higher in the M37W maize. Maize grains harvested each year also served as raw material to elaborate maize-based feed and maize-derived products. Chickens fed on the HC diet had similar productivity and health parameters to those fed on the M37W and commercial (plus color additives) diets, and they also developed similar pigmentation to those fed on the commercial (plus color additives) diet. Provitamin A carotenoids from HC maize were bioavailable, at least to the same extent than in synthetic and natural additives, and contributed to liver retinol levels in chickens. Meat obtained from chickens fed on the HC diet had a good quality and sensory shelf life as well as a long-lasting golden pigmentation. Finally, HC maize-based porridges showed not only to preserve the initial carotenoid content, but also to enhance it due to the carotenoid extractability from the food matrix.

Full-text available at: https://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/405891