The potential of solid‐state cultivation, with three white‐rot fungi (Bjerkandera adusta, Ganoderma resinaceum and Phlebia rufa), to decrease phorbol esters concentration of Jatropha curcas L. was evaluated in this study. Incubation was conducted in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks without agitation at 28°C for 30 days. Phorbol esters were analyzed by reverse‐phase HPLC after an extraction procedure using dichloromethane. All fungi studied were able to decrease the concentration of phorbol esters, mainly B. adusta and P. rufa which significantly reduced (p<0.05) phorbol esters contents to non‐toxic levels. These results suggest that white‐rot fungi could be potentially used as a possible approach for the biological treatment of the oilseed cake.

KeywordsBroiler, Jatropha curcas, phorbol ester, toxicity.Submitted: September/2014 Approved: November/2015 ABSTRACTThe meal of Jatropha curcas (JCM) seed is a by-product of the biofuel industry and may potentially to be used as animal feed. However, its toxicity has prevented its utilization in animal nutrition mainly due to its high concentration of phorbol esters. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the dietary inclusion of JCM on the growth performance, feed digestibility and internal organs development of broilers. Thirty two 48-d-old Ross 308 broiler chickens housed in 16 pens (2 birds/pen) were used in this study. Birds were randomly allocated to dietary treatments comprising four JCM levels (negative control, 25, 50, or 100 g JCM/kg of diet) for four weeks. Results showed that increasing levels of JCM had a negative impact on broiler performance, reducing live weight, weight gain, and feed intake. Treatments led to a decrease of the relative weight of testis and spleen, and to an increase in heart relative weight. In broilers fed diets containing JCM, the testis were atrophic, presenting reduced size of the seminiferous tubule, which were small and lined within active sertoli cells and rare spermatogonia. This study illustrates the negative impact of diets containing JCM on broiler performance and JCM pathological effects on several organs.