Effectiveness of Magnetic Bentonite Nanocomposites as Mycotoxin Binders in Dairy Baluchi Ewe's Diets: Impact on Milk Yield, Composition, Blood Chemistry, and Aflatoxin M1 Levels.

Bentonite is considered the most effective adsorbent for aflatoxin (AF) decontamination, and recent studies have shown that changing its structure in nano form improves its physicochemical properties and chemical stability. This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of bentonites as binders on performance, plasma metabolites, and aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) levels in contaminated milk of Baluchi ewes. The study was conducted with 12 ewes randomly assigned to four different experimental diets. The experimental diets were: (1) control (the basal diet had no supplements and contained bakery waste naturally contaminated with AF); (2) control diet supplemented with natural bentonite (NB) (5 g/kg DM); (3) control diet supplemented with modified bentonite (MB) (5 g/kg DM) and (4) control diet supplemented with magnetic bentonite nanocomposite (MBNC) (5 g/kg DM). The study found that adding bentonite clays to the diet of ewes resulted in increased milk yield (P<0.01) and milk components (P<0.01) such as fat, protein, lactose, total solids, and solids not fat. The highest milk yield and milk components were observed in the MBNC treatment. However, there was no significant difference in glucose, urea, cholesterol, albumin, globulin, and total protein among the diets (P>0.05). The study also found that increasing aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) intake resulted in a decreased carryover of AFB1 into AFM1 (P<0.01), with MBNC having the lowest carryover compared to other treatments (P<0.01). These results suggest that modification of bentonite structure in nanocomposite form improves chemical stability, physicochemical properties, and efficiency as novel toxin binders for crops and animal products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]