Role of Lipids in animal feed

Lipids represent a group of organic compounds including fatty acids or their derivatives and are insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. They are mainly made of carbon and hydrogen and, in a lesser extent, oxygen. Their main function is being an energy store (such as triglycerides) since they have a high energy content (9 Kcal / g). Comparatively, carbohydrates and proteins provide only 4 Kcal / g once metabolized. In addition, when stored anhydrously (without water), unlike carbohydrates and proteins, they constitute an extremely concentrated source of energy. Other important functions of lipids are structural (for example membrane lipids) and regulatory (just like hormones and fat-soluble vitamins...), among others.
Emulsifiers are a class of surfactants with a lipophilic and a hydrophilic structure. These substances are located at the interface of the aqueous and lipid phases, stabilizing the emulsion of both elements. For this reason, emulsifiers are frequently used as additives in various foods such as ice creams.

Emulsifiers act through different mechanisms in the livestock industry. In the first place, they improve the digestibility as well as the absorption of the fats included in the formula, which increases growth in both broilers and pigs. In addition to the effect on fat absorption, the digestibility of other nutrients such as protein is also increased, contributing to an overall improvement of zootechnical parameters in animal production.
Several studies have shown the effects of an exogenous emulsifier supplementation on growth, diet digestibility and meat quality in pigs and poultry which have concluded with multiple positive results.

Liptosa has developed an exceptional additive that is a mixture of botanical extracts (with great liver protector effects) in combination with emulsifying agents. Both elements act in a complementary way optimising the biological functions of the animal, improving digestion, absorption, and the metabolism of fats (and other nutrients) present in the diet.

DigestFast can be used on top in animals of early stages with immature digestive systems to improve their ability to digest fat, which is often poor, and its malabsorption is usually associated with diarrhoea. However, the most characteristic use of DigestFast is within the formula, both for pigs and calf. Its inclusion allows a reduction of the added fat up to 10Kg per ton of feed, with the savings that this represents. This substitution is possible thanks to the effect of DigestFast on the animal, promoting an increase in the digestibility of this raw material, together with maintaining the liver in its optimal state (thanks to the botanical extracts, which increase the secretion of endogenous bile and lecithin). This not only facilitates the absorption of fat (together with other dietary components such as proteins), but also improves the overall zootechnical parameters of animals supplemented with DigestFast.

In a trial carried out in Catalonia with 132 animals (60 males and 72 females) white pig crossbred with Pietrain, a total of 6 feedstuffs were used (three for each of the batches, corresponding to the phases of "entry to fattening", "growth" and "fattening"). The amount of added fat that was replaced is specified on the following table:

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the addition of a nutritional emulsifier in a white pig diet replacing part of the animal fat added in the diet. The results showed that DigestFast supplementation did not affect carcass weight or performance, but it did increase the percentage of lean in the carcass and achieved greater muscle thickness compared to the control group. In conclusion, it was observed that DigestFast is capable of effectively replace dietary fat in the indicated proportions, maintaining or even improving the production and carcass quality indices.

In poultry farming, DigestFast has also been tested in multiple trials and the results have been favourable. In one of these studies, the effect of DigestFast on different broiler diets was evaluated, with a sample size of 5,500 animals for each diet. Four diets were evaluated: the original diet which was named positive control diet (PC), the PC diet but with 1% less fat which was named negative control (NC), the PC diet to which 1kg/t DigestFast was added (CPDF) and the negative control diet to which 1kg/t DigestFast was also added (CNDF). It was observed that broilers fed the diets supplemented with DigestFast had similar or even better zootechnical performance than those fed the analogous diets, but without DigestFast (CP and CN diets), although these differences were not found to be significant. Finally, the same study evaluated the digestibility of the different components of the administered diets (CP, CN, CPDF, CNDF) and found that DigestFast significantly improved the digestibility of fat and protein, a result closely related to a higher digestibility of organic matter (in the diets supplemented with DigestFast).

In conclusion, DigestFast is an excellent tool to get the maximum performance out of the different nutrients in animal feed, which is already used all over Spain and internationally.