Detección espectrofotométrica de sobredosis de monensina en piensos para bovinos

Abstract

The growing pressure on agriculture as well as the search for better efficiency in livestock systems has led to the increased use of pharmacological products as a strategy to improve livestock profitability. Monensin (MN) is a polyether antibiotic of the ionophores class produced by the Streptomyces cinnamonensis. This study describes the development of a simple and effective spectrophotometric method for MN measurement in feed samples. Feed samples with known and unknown concentrations of MN collected from farms of Córdoba and La Pampa provinces (Argentina) were measured. The results show that the spectrophotometric method is appropriate for measuring normal and overdose levels of MN in feed. Thus, the method is suitable to evaluate presumptive poisoning cases. While reagents and equipment are of low cost compared to more sophisticated techniques, it does require more labor and time. We suggest the use of spectrophotometric method for monitoring and eventual quick diagnosis of poisoning cases, being a useful tool for low complexity laboratories.