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Advances in livestock
nutrition ...
... make meat more
attractive to consumers
T
In the quest for healthier
lifestyles, consumers are
increasingly demanding
leaner pig and poultry meat.
To help satisfy market
requirements, producers are
making greater use of
advances in livestock
nutrition to improve
production economics and
meat quality, with associated
benefits for processors.
ANDREA BARLETTA explains
their significance.
he quest for healthier lifestyles
has brought major changes in the
qualities that consumers look for
when it comes to buying meat and
the global trend is moving firmly
towards leaner meat. This has, in
turn, resulted in significant
changes in terms of what the retail
sector stipulates from processors,
what they require from producers
and, in turn, what producers
themselves demand of feed
manufacturers.
Advances in genetics have played
a key role in helping livestock
producers to reduce production
costs by maximising feed
utilisation and producing animals
that yield a high percentage of
lean meat. Now, producers are
making use of the latest
developments in animal nutrition
to further exploit the genetic
potential of these more advanced
animals. Novel feed additives, such
as betaine and enzymes, have been
scientifically proven to optimise
productivity from high genetic
potential pigs and poultry and to
produce the leaner meat that
consumers want.
Betaine (Betafin – Danisco
Animal Nutrition) is finding
increasing favour with producers
around the world to improve
production efficiency, carcass
quality and ease of processing.
Danisco’s Betafin is a form of
natural betaine extracted from
sugar beet, highly purified using
patented chromatographic
separation techniques.
An amino acid derivative found
in a wide variety of plant and
invertebrate species, betaine acts
as an osmolyte and accumulates in
animal cells where it attracts
water. This protects the animal
from dehydration and allows it to
more efficiently maintain its water
balance, a continuous challenge
that consumes up to 60% of the
Reproduced from — Asian Meat: Processing and Marketing — July/August 2006
“Research has also shown that in addition to enhancing lean meat
production, natural betaine also increases gut tensile strength,
potentially reducing the risk of the animal’s intestines fracturing during
processing and releasing digesta contents. The result is less potential
for carcase contamination and fewer carcase downgrades.”
energy used by the
animal’s organs, for
example the gut and
liver.
By reducing this
energy requirement to
maintain cellular
water and ion balance,
betaine releases more
energy to fuel lean
growth. At the same
time, betaine’s beneficial effect on
gut structure aids nutrient
digestion and absorption,
contributing to improved and more
consistent animal performance.
Proven effectiveness
Research has highlighted
betaine’s increasing importance in
improving the physical and
economic performance of pigs kept
under commercial conditions,
where on many units, for various
reasons, energy intake may be
limiting. This is particularly
pertinent to animals reared in
tropical and sub-tropical areas of
Asia where ambient temperatures
can substantially reduce feed
intake.
By releasing some of the energy
needed to fuel lean tissue growth,
dietary betaine can help to fill this
energy deficit. This can, for
example, be particularly useful for
producers who wish to reap the
benefit of porcine somatotropin
(pST) because betaine counters the
tendency for feed intake to drop in
pST-treated pigs.
Trials conducted by the Victoria
Institute of Animal Science in
Werribee, Australia, demonstrated
that boars treated with pST alone
deposited 31% more lean tissue
per day than non-pST-treated
animals, while betaine alone
increased daily carcass lean gain
by 13% compared with pigs fed
diets containing no betaine.
Boars used in the study also
consumed around 2.7kg per day
during the 35-day period before
slaughter, a figure at the higher
end of feed consumption normally
seen under practical farming
conditions in Australia. With lower
and more typical commercial feed
intakes the effects of betaine would
have been even more pronounced.
This example perfectly illustrates
betaine’s energy-boosting
properties. Because the pig uses
less energy to maintain its water
balance, it utilises feed more
efficiently and directs more energy
towards producing lean tissue.
Even where pST is not used,
betaine can still significantly
increase carcass lean gain,
particularly in improved genotypes
selected for high rates of lean
tissue deposition.
Research has also shown that in
addition to enhancing lean meat
production, natural betaine also
increases gut tensile strength,
potentially reducing the risk of the
animal’s intestines fracturing
during processing and releasing
digesta contents. The result is less
potential for carcase
contamination and fewer carcase
downgrades. Trials conducted by
the Agricultural Centre of Finland
in collaboration with Danisco
Global Innovation found that the
tensile strength of the small
intestine from pigs fed diets
containing betaine at 1kg per
tonne of feed increased by 33%.
Similar improvements in gut
tensile strength have also been
noted in broilers fed diets
supplemented with betaine (Betafin
– Danisco Animal Nutrition). In
one large-scale commercial field
trial conducted by a U.S.
commercial broiler integrator the
inclusion of betaine in broiler diets
at 780g per tonne of feed
significantly increased gut tensile
strength by 10%.
In another trial, Colorado
Quality Research in the USA found
that feeding betaine at 750g/tonne
of feed to coccidia-challenged birds
resulted in significantly lower
coccidial lesion scores and
increased intestinal strength by
36%. These two effects may also
be related, in that lower coccidial
lesion scores are likely to result in
healthier, stronger intestines better
able to withstand processing.
Range of benefits
Betaine is not the only novel feed
additive that is helping to improve
lean meat production from pigs
Reproduced from — Asian Meat: Processing and Marketing — July/August 2006
and poultry. Trials throughout the
world have demonstrated how the
addition of the feed enzyme
Porzyme (Danisco Animal
Nutrition) to pig diets improves
carcass uniformity and lean meat
percentage by releasing more
nutrients from feed and allowing
pigs to more readily reach their
genetic potential for lean growth.
Research conducted by Danisco
in conjunction with the Institute
of Agricultural Sciences of South
Vietnam showed that in addition
to improving the daily gain of
grower/finisher pigs by 5% and
feed:gain by 3%, the inclusion of
Porzyme 9300 boosted lean
percentage by 1.4% (from 48.4 to
49.8%) and reduced carcass
backfat levels by 1mm. Net profit
per pig (i.e. allowing for enzyme
cost) rose by approximately VND
25,000 (USD 2) at the time of the
trial.
Further trials at the same
Institute, using slightly different
diets, showed improvements in
growth rate and feed:gain of 6%
and 4% respectively. Again, lean
percentage was significantly
improved by the addition of the
enzyme from 53.9 to 55.3% and
loin eye area was increased from
50.0 to 50.5 cm2. Net profit per
pig increased by 6% as a result of
these improvements.
In a trial by a leading
commercial Philippine producer,
the inclusion of Porzyme in a
corn-based diet significantly
improved daily gain by 7% and
feed:gain by 4%. The enzyme also
resulted in a significant reduction
in back fat levels (P1 + P2) from
23.0mm to 19.7mm. Lean
percentage was correspondingly
improved by 1.6% from 58.3 to
59.9%.
global trend towards leaner meat is
focusing the attention of feed
producers on new approaches in
animal nutrition. Feed enzymes
and betaine are gaining
acceptance as valuable nutritional
tools to increase lean meat
production as well as improving
production efficiency.
Danisco Animal Nutrition
pioneered the development and use
of these technologies in animal
nutrition and is now a global
leader in improving poultry and
pig nutrition. Its focus is to deliver
innovative, sustainable solutions
that increase the efficiency and
safety of food production in an
environmentally responsible way. !
Conclusion
The use of feed enzymes and
betaine throughout the pig and
poultry industries is increasing as
awareness of their benefits
becomes more widespread. The
*Andrea Barletta is Global Marketing Director for
Danisco Animal Nutrition, a division of
Danisco A/S (Denmark). Further details are
available at www.danisco.com/animalnutrition.
Reproduced from — Asian Meat: Processing and Marketing — July/August 2006