Compounds of concern ? This is a picture of cows eating pasture as nature intended

Food Chemistry

Available online 27 February 2015

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Exposure assessment of cattle via roughages to plants producing compounds of concern

• L.W.D. van Raamsdonk^{a, ,} ,
• W.A. Ozinga^{b, c},
• L.A.P. Hoogenboom^a,
• P.P.J. Mulder^a,
• J.G.J. Mol^a,
• M.J. Groot^a,
• H.J. van der Fels-Klerx^a,
• M. de Nijs^a

• ^a RIKILT, Wageningen UR, P.O. Box 230, 6700 AE Wageningen, The Netherlands
• ^b Alterra, Wageningen UR, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
• ^c Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Received 23 July 2014, Revised 10 February 2015, Accepted 11 February 2015, Available online 27 February 2015

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.02.050

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Highlights

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Animals are unintentionally exposed to a wide range of wild plants.

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Over twenty percent of the plants consumed by cattle contain compounds of concern.

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Exposure to plants in roughage for cattle can guide the search for plant toxins.

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Furanocoumarins and piperidine alkaloids are compounds of concern in animal feeding.

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The use of essential oils for animal health is complemented by natural consumption.

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Abstract

Food producing animals are exposed to biologically active plant compounds through feed and roughages, presenting a potential risk to the animal but also consumers of food of animal origin. To evaluate to which plant compounds of concern dairy cows in the Netherlands are exposed, a ranking filter model was developed, combining information on abundance of plant species in vegetation plots in the Netherlands (183,905 plots of three different vegetation types) with plant-compound combinations (700), and with consumption data of fresh grass, grass silage and corn silage by cattle.

The most abundant plant genera are those producing cyanogenic glycosides, coumarins and benzofuranocoumarins, being predominantly fodder plants (alfalfa, clover and some grasses) considered to be safe. Highest exposures were estimated for plant genera producing piperidine alkaloids (horsetail), furanocoumarins (parsley and relatives), pyrrolizidine alkaloids (Symphytum, Senecio, Leucanthemum, Eupatorium) and essential oils. The current results allow to prioritise future scientific research on these compounds.

Keywords

• Plant toxins;
• Vegetation analysis;
• Cattle;
• Free grazing;
• Roughage;
• Ranking filter model;
• Piperidine alkaloids;
• Furanocoumarins;
• Pyrrolizidine alkaloids;
• Essential oils

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