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THE 3 BENEFITS OF LYSOLECITHINS IN ANIMAL FEED
Effective dietary emulsifiers that promote fat utilization and production performance are of paramount importance, especially in young animals and animals with intestinal health challenges. One of such emulsifiers is lysolecithin. Lysolecithin is gaining lots of attention as an emulsifier of natural origin. In this article, we will delve into what lysolecithins are, how they are produced and highlight three key benefits they offer in animal nutrition.
WHAT ARE LYSOLECITHINS?
Lysolecithins are produced from lecithin. These hydrolysed lecithins (lysolecithins) are mainly obtained from vegetable oils such as soybean oil. They are commonly used in animal feed as emulsifiers. Phosphatedylcholine (PC) is the molecule with the main emulsifying capacity in lecithin. Lysophosphatedylcholine (LPC) is produced by enzymatically removing one fatty acid chain from phosphatidylcholine, to increase its hydrophylic/lipophilic balance (HLB value) and enhances its emulsifying properties. Therefore, LPC is more effective at forming and stabilizing emulsions in the gastrointestinal tract than PC.
1. IMPROVED FAT DIGESTION AND ABSORPTION
Lysolecithins play a crucial role in promoting efficient fat digestion, absorption, and utilization in animals. Their emulsifying properties facilitate the breakdown of dietary fats into smaller droplets, increasing the surface area available for enzymatic degradation by lipase. This enhances the rate of fat hydrolysis, allowing for better absorption of fatty acids in the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, animals can utilize more energy from their feed, leading to improved growth and overall performance.
2. ENHANCED NUTRIENT UTILIZATION
In addition to improving fat digestion by emulsification, lysolecithins also enhance the production of digestive juices and stimulate the absorption of other vital nutrients. By forming small mixed micelles, they improve the solubility and transport of lipophilic nutrients. This enhances nutrient utilization and ensures that animals can derive maximum benefit from their diet, supporting overall health, immunity, and productivity, or help to overcome adverse effects of intestinal challenges. By optimizing nutrient absorption, lysolecithins improve feed efficiency and reduce excretion.
3. COST-EFFECTIVE FEED FORMULATION
Lysolecithins offer a cost-effective solution for feed formulation in the livestock industry. By enhancing fat digestion and nutrient absorption, they enable a reduction in dietary energy content without compromising animal performance. This opens opportunities to replace expensive fat sources with more economical alternatives, reducing feed costs while maintaining optimal growth and productivity. Alternatively, in summertime, when inclusion of fat in animal diets might be increased to prevent heat stress, lysolecithins also stimulate energy utilization. The cost-effectiveness of incorporating lysolecithins into animal feed makes them a valuable tool for feed manufacturers striving for efficient and sustainable livestock production.
CONCLUSION
Lysolecithins, which come from natural sources, help animals to digest, absorb and utilize fats more efficiently. They create a mixture of oil and water in the gut, which increases the surface area for enzymes to hydrolyse dietary fat. Lysolecithins also form small mixed micelles, or stable clusters of nutrients, that helps transport through the watery layer covering the cells in the small intestine. This improves the digestion of fats and fat-soluble nutrients and the use of dietary energy.
Adding lysolecithins, like Elan®Digest, to animal diets improves growth, and feed efficiency, and enables a reduction in dietary energy without losing production performance, which saves costs. It’s worth considering using the natural lysolecithins for more efficient and sustainable livestock production. If you want to read more on the effect of Elan®Digest on the production performance of broilers during a 35-day performance trial, please check the article “Lysolecithin improves energy utilisation in broilers” available at http://www.positiveaction.info/pdfs/articles/pp30_5p15.pdf.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jan Dirk van der Klis – Consultant Animal Nutrition
Jan Dirk van der Klis is a renowned poultry consultant with a PhD in Animal Nutrition from Wageningen University. Throughout his career, Jan Dirk has made noteworthy contributions to the industry. With his extensive expertise, he is offering valuable nutritional guidance to enhance the health and productivity of poultry. Jan Dirk’s profound knowledge and experience are pivotal in meeting the specific nutritional requirements of poultry and devising effective feeding strategies to yield optimal results. Since 2019, Jan Dirk has been working with Olus.
