Symbiotic corn can improve yield, reduce mycotoxins, ans preserve nutritive value

A chained set of symbiotic trials has been conducted with the aim of studying whether and how corn fertilised by Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (AM) and microbial consortia could influence crop yields, affect mycotoxins, and modify poultry and pig meat production, in the short term or after a long period of storage. Two experiments conducted in corn fields treated with a commercial bio-fertiliser have shown that the yield can be improved by +4 to +30% and that the resistance to fungal attacks had significantly increased. The secondary metabolites, fatty acid composition, NIRS properties, and electronic nose profiles were also modified, with a substantial reduction in the oxidant power of -47% in the grain flour and -19% in the feed. The productive performances, as well as the slaughter and meat colour, were not modified after a fresh corn utilization by broiler poultry and heavy pigs, but the blood biochemical parameters in the poultry revealed a clear amelioration of the physiological functions and of the serum antioxidant capacity. After a twenty-one-month delayed utilization, substantial nutritive differences, related to shelf life and palatability, emerged, since the broilers fed the control diet showed a reduced intake of -26.7%, with a final body weight reduction of -27.7%. Therefore, a symbiotic farming provided by AM and microbial fertilisation may be considered a strategic tool for agronomic sustainability, resilience and for the nutritive usefulness of maize crops.