FUMzyme^®

FUMzyme^® is the first and only enzyme on the market that completely degrades fumonisins into non-toxic metabolites – Unique, Specific and Irreversible.

Fumonisins Occurrence and production

Fumonisins are major contaminants in animal feed. More than 60 % of all investigated samples worldwide were found to contain these mycotoxins (BIOMIN Mycotoxin Survey). The most predominant is fumonisin B1 (FB1). Several different fungi are known to produce fumonisins, like different Fusarium species, but also Aspergillus niger. Among the most important and well known producers are Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium proliferatum.

Effects in animals

Fumonisins interfere with the health status of animals and reduce their performance.

Biomarker for fumonisin exposure – Sa/So ratio

The structural similarity of fumonisins to the sphingoid bases called sphinganine and sphingosine is the basis for their toxicity. Fumonisins disrupt sphingolipid metabolism and interfere with the synthesis and pathways. As a consequence, changes in the sphinganine/sphingosine ratio (Sa/So ratio) are used as an indicator (biomarker) of the fumonisin-exposure of the animal.

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FUMzyme^® Origin of this natural enzyme

So far, no single adsorbent has been tested to be effective against most types of mycotoxins (Huwig et al., 2001). An alternative way of removing mycotoxins is during digestion by enzymatic detoxification - biotransformation.

Sphingopyxis sp. MTA 144 is a bacterium which was isolated from soil within a BIOMIN research project and is capable of biotransforming fumonisins to a non-toxic metabolite.

The enzyme, responsible for the detoxification by Sphingopyxis sp. MTA 144 was identified as fumonisin esterase (FUMzyme^®) by the BIOMIN research team.
BIOMIN is now producing this unique enzyme in a purified form: FUMzyme^® is capable of degrading fumonisin B1 into the non-toxic hydrolyzed FB1 (HFB1) in the gastrointestinal tract of animals (Figure 1).

Figure 1: FUMzyme^® degrades fumonisin B1 into non-toxic metabolite

In vitro and in vivo efficacy

The detoxifying activity of this revolutionary enzyme was confirmed in numerous in vitro and in vivo experiments. FUMzyme^® converts nearly 60 ppm FB1 (97.2 %) into the non-toxic metabolite HFB1 after just 15 min (Figure 2).

Figure 2: In vitro degradation of 60 ppm FB1 (green line) by FUMzyme^® (18 units/L) within 60 min.

The biomarker for fumonisin exposure – sphinganine/sphingosine ratio (Sa/So) – was measured in the serum of piglets at the end of a 42-day trial: Sa/So ratios were significantly reduced due to the feeding of FUMzyme^® compared to the group without FUMzyme^® (Figure 3).