Natural occurrence of the mycotoxin fusarochromanone, a metabolite of Fusarium equiseti, in cereal feed associated with tibial dyschondroplasia

The mycotoxin fusarochromanone, a metabolite of Fusarium fungi, is able to induce tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) in chickens under experimental conditions. On the basis of health surveillance data on TD, two broiler farms with TD prevalence rates of up to 56% were identified. In the corresponding pelleted feed samples, fusarochromanone was detected in all 12 samples analyzed by column purification and TLC, with concentrations 4 to 59 micrograms/kg. No Fusarium fungi were available from the feed because of the pelleting process, but seven Fusarium equiseti strains previously isolated from Danish cereals were checked for fusarochromanone production, and all produced fusarochromanone at 57 to 1,435 mg/kg. Thus, the potential for fusarochromanone production by F. equiseti is considerable. The identification of fusarochromanone from feed and F. equiseti was confirmed by mass, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectral analyses. This is the first report of fusarochromanone as a naturally occurring contaminant.