Vol. 8, Issue 5, Part B (2023)

Mycotoxins have an impact on poultry production as they are present in feed and have a direct negative impact on poultry performance. Transmission rates of mycotoxins in animal products are generally low (except for aflatoxins in milk and eggs), This results in limited sources of mycotoxins for humans. The risk posed by mycotoxins in human food is much greater. Aflatoxin contamination in chicken feed could be identified as the first assessment of this risk in Iraq. In three agro-ecological zones in Iraq, 201 samples of maize, groundnut meal, broiler and layer feed were collected directly from poultry farms, poultry production sites and poultry feed distributors and analyzed for moisture content and aflatoxin content. The results show that the mean moisture content of maize (14.1%) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than all other commodities (10.0%-12.7%). Approximately 9% of maize samples were positive for aflatoxin, with concentrations overall ranging from <2 to 42 µg/kg. Most of these samples of peanut meal (100%), broiler (93.3%) and layer feeds (83.0%) were positive with concentrations of positive samples ranging from 39 to 950 µg/kg for peanut meal, 2 to 52 µg/kg for broiler feed and 2 to 23 µg/kg for layer feed. The aflatoxin content of layer feed did not vary by agroecological zones, while the highest (16.8 µg/kg) and the lowest (8.2 µg/kg) aflatoxin content of broiler feed were respectively recorded in Babil and in Nagaf agroecological regions. These results suggest that peanut meal may be a high-risk feed and that further research is needed to facilitate the promotion of safe feed for poultry in Iraq.