15 July 2021 - Betaine was first discovered in sugar beet juice and occurs in plants, animals and microorganisms. As a multifunctional nutrient supporting important metabolic functions, it has long been used in the animal nutrition space as a methyl- and choline-sparing tool, but it is increasingly being recognized for other benefits.
One major participant in betaine’s growth has been AGRANA. Following the successful completion of its new betaine cristallisation plant—BetaPura GmbH—next to its sugar beet factory in Tulln, Austria, the company is now expanding its product portfolio with natural crystalline betaine products. Feedinfo caught up with AGRANA’s Barbara Auer, Sales Director for Betaine and Ana Gavrău, Global Technical Product Manager, to talk about the broader role betaine can play in combatting heat stress, reformulating diets for low crude protein content, and meeting other production challenges.
[Feedinfo] Is it fair to say that betaine is evolving from being seen primarily as a methyl- and choline-sparing tool to a multifunctional nutritional additive? What is driving that shift?
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Ana Gavrău |
[Ana Gavrău] Yes, in recent years, betaine has become a core ingredient in formulations for poultry, pigs and even ruminants. With three methyl groups and a bipolar structure, betaine has a broad range of functional benefits which have been demonstrated in pigs and poultry under stressful conditions. As a methyl group donor, natural betaine is involved directly and indirectly in many biochemical pathways, increasing the production of important methylated metabolites like carnitine or creatine. Betaine is also a source of glycine, especially relevant in low crude protein diets for nitrogen-reduced feeding. |
Furthermore, due to its zwitterionic structure, betaine plays a significant role in osmoregulation, namely in osmo-protection. As a ‘compatible’ osmolyte, betaine can replace on demand the ‘disrupting’ inorganic ions, whose concentration levels may affect protein structure and enzymes’ functions. It can minimise the water loss from cells, maintaining the cells’ volume, structure and activity, thereby conferring on them higher resilience against stressors.
[Feedinfo] Heat stress is an issue for all species. How does betaine work to counteract this?
[Barbara Auer] Heat stress negatively affects animal welfare and biological functions, with direct impact on the health status of the animals. Long-term exposure to heat stress can adversely affect reproduction, leading to high mortality rates and consequently to economic losses, sometimes dramatic. All animal species are impacted by heat stress, but poultry seems to be most sensitive.
Animals become heat stressed when they have difficulty achieving a balance between body heat loss and body heat production. The imbalance is caused by a combination of environmental factors and the defence mechanisms of the animals. It is important to understand how animals respond to temperature-associated environmental challenges, especially heat stress. The first response is that the animals try to adapt, changing their behaviour and, via a series of physiological changes, achieving thermo- and osmoregulation. This uses energy that should be used for performance responses.
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Energy is one of the major dietary cost factors in livestock production. Research shows that betaine is the most effective osmo-protectant among the organic osmolytes. Betaine restores and maintains cellular integrity and functionality, and prevents dehydration. Betaine can reduce the energy required for osmoregulation. There is further evidence that heat stress may affect meat quality and fat deposition. Moreover, it can decrease the proportion of breast muscle, and increase the proportion of thigh muscle as well as fat deposition in broilers. Betaine can minimize these effects, improving the antioxidative capacity. |
Barbara Auer |
In one of our trials in Thailand conducted under heat stress conditions, the natural betaine treatments lowered the litter moisture content and increased the breast meat percentage, with lower abdominal fat deposition compared to the positive control, the negative control group and the choline chloride treatment. As a multi-functional nutrient, betaine is a proven nutritional aid to protect against heat and osmotic stress, manage gut health and optimize feeding efficiency in livestock production.
[Feedinfo] With the current emphasis on sustainability and the price of protein, many producers are using lower protein diets. What is the role of betaine?
[Ana Gavrău] The development of new nutritional strategies, due both to increased protein demand and to the need to limit the impact of the livestock production on the environment, has become an important task. Optimization in feed formulation to lower the crude protein (CP) content, or so-called N-reduced feeding, is one of the best strategies for sustainability where synthetic amino acids have a significant role.
Lowering the CP level in the diet means lower levels of essential and non-essential amino acids (NEAA) and thus the need to supplement diets with synthetic sources of essential amino acids. So, these diets low in CP levels are consequently low in glycine as well as serine. When the glycine level is low, some essential amino acids such as threonine, which is a precursor of glycine, will have to be converted into glycine, meaning that less threonine will be available for production purposes. Therefore, in low CP diets, the requirement for glycine can be higher. According to Corzo et al. (2009), among all NEAA that have been tested, only glycine could restore performance.
When betaine donates one methyl group to homocysteine, the remaining two methyl groups will form di-methyl-glycine, which is further converted into glycine. Consequently, this means that betaine indirectly provides one glycine molecule to animals.
Glycine is a non-essential but relevant amino acid, especially in collagen protein. Collagen, elastin and keratin are glycine-rich proteins and mucin contains high levels of serine. Glycine is also one of the amino acids present in bile salts, important for fat digestion, and in protein synthesis in the liver. Another important function of glycine is to produce uric acid to eliminate excess nitrogen from the body. In poultry, glycine contributes to the formation of cysteine. Moreover, glycine and serine are involved in the synthesis of glutathione which is one of the most important antioxidants.
Thus gylcine is a very diverse amino acid with major functions in metabolic pathways, and betaine can function as an important source of glycine. In conclusion, diets formulated with low CP respond positively to supplementation with betaine since the ‘glycine deficiency’ can be counteracted.
[Feedinfo] What role does betaine have in helping livestock to ward off pathogens such as coccidiosis, and how does this work?
[Ana Gavrău] Both functions of betaine, as an efficient methyl group donor and as an organic osmolyte, play a key role when animals are under challenging conditions including heat stress, temperature stress (fluctuation between day and night temperatures) and pathogenic challenges- mainly coccidiosis- often with wet litter as a consequence. In such conditions, the demand on methyl groups is considerably increased, the mineral and water balance may be disturbed and the cell wall integrity potentially damaged.
There are other potential dietary methyl group donors, but not equally available for methylation reactions. Betaine is considered the most efficient methyl group donor for the re-methylation, because no metabolic conversion is required in order to donate its methyl group in the homocysteine- methionine cycle, as in case of choline. Moreover, the metabolic conversion of choline into betaine in the mitochondria might be inhibited by ionophores, as reported by Lipiński et al. 2012.
Coccidiosis is estimated to be the most important enteric disease in poultry costing $ 14.3 billion/ year (Source: World Poultry Webinar, Dr. Jean-Michel Reperant, Researcher at the Ploufragan research laboratory at Anses).
Coccidiosis is strongly linked to metabolic and structural changes at the intestinal level, and to osmotic disturbances. This causes malabsorption, reduction in growth, increased FCR, dehydration caused by increased wet litter problems, diarrhoea and high mortality rate. Several studies confirmed that betaine can counteract the osmotic disturbances during coccidial infections.
Treatments with betaine demonstrate lower FCR, lower mortality rate and better production efficiency, when is used in combination with a coccidiostat. However, the mechanism behind is not completely clear. Therefore, in our last study conducted recently in Austria, in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Michael Hess and his team from the Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine , University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, we focused specifically on the effect of betaine on gut physiology in broiler chickens under normal conditions. Intestinal segments were taken from the mid‐jejunum and cecum for measuring the paracellular permeability by Ussing chamber technique. The preliminary results show clearly that betaine maintains and protects the permeability at the intestinal level which could be one crucial mechanism in coccidiosis, heat stress, as well as other challenges impacting the intestinal barrier function. Betaine supplementation resulted also in increased selected SCFA concentrations (acetate, propionate and butyrate) in either the jejunum or cecum, indicating an improved microbial metabolic activity. The final report is not yet available, but the preliminary results suggest that natural betaine can promote the intestinal health by supporting intestinal integrity and modulating microbial fermentation.
[Feedinfo] Is betaine applicable to ruminants as well as monogastrics? Does its role differ for different livestock species?
[Ana Gavrău] Yes, betaine is suitable for multi-species application, but of course between monogastrics and ruminants, the rumen makes the difference. Betaine’s role as a methyl group donor is different in ruminants. to those found in monogastric animals. In ruminants we have to talk about a ruminal and post-ruminal effect when betaine can pass the rumen. Referring to the ruminal effect, we know that proper fermentation in ruminants is crucial. Climatic and dietary shifts can suppress fermentation. Hyperthermal and hyperosmotic stress are typical stressors caused by feeding, as well as a high ambient temperature. Both stress conditions can lead to poor fermentation and subsequently affect productivity.
In our study in vitro, organized with the team of Prof. Dr. Qendrim Zebeli from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, a rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC) was used to evaluate the effects of betaine supplementation on rumen fermentation variables, microbiome and nutrient digestibility under normal, heat-stressed and hyperosmotic-stressed rumen conditions. According to our data, heat and hyperosmotic stress clearly suppresses rumen fermentation and natural betaine promotes microbial fermentation activity, making it an effective rumen modulator.
Ruminants are dependent upon ruminal microbes for the formation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and microbial protein synthesis by fermenting feedstuffs. SCFAs and microbial proteins are the main source of energy and protein in ruminants. Betaine added to grain-rich diets enhances microbial fermentation leading to more SCFA production during heat stress, and minimizes the effect of hyperosmotic stress by decreasing the acetate to propionate ratio.
Propionate is the most important glucogenic precursor required for lactose synthesis and is responsible for milk yield. The increase in propionate percentage upon betaine addition under the hyperosmotic stress suggests that betaine supports fermentation and milk production during heat and hyperosmotic stress. Betaine, as a substrate and methyl donor for microbes, directly modulates ruminal fermentation, and as a compatible osmolyte, betaine can enable microbial tolerance to stressors, maintaining their fermentation activities which are crucial for ruminant health and productivity.
[Barbara Auer] Speaking of multi-species application, we recently tested our natural betaine product also in shrimp, more exactly in whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). Two subsequent feeding studies with whiteleg shrimp were initiated by Dr. Wolfgang Koppe with astonishing results. One trial was performed in Iceland and the second one in Thailand. In both trials Actibeet® increased the growth performance significantly in a dose-dependent manner, at higher percentage in large shrimp and at lower in small shrimp, improved the feed efficiency significantly, showing 20% better FCR, and reduced the mortality rate, respectively increasing the survival rate by 16%. Furthermore, histological examination of the intestine showed the development of better absorptive capacity and reduced the total count of Vibrio bacteria, which explains the increased survival rate under non-challenged conditions. These effects are unexpected and further work is initiated.
Betaine has proven to act as a real multifunctional nutrient in different ways in different livestock species, and every usage guarantees a beneficial effect.
[Feedinfo] ActiBeet® can produce savings in livestock production. How does this work and can you quantify the savings?
[Ana Gavrău] Natural betaine is much more than a ‘sparing tool’. Moreover, we know that the betaine response is dosage dependent, and the dosage used is dependent on the customer’s strategy.
As betaine is a multifunctional nutrient, its application can result in multiple benefits:
• on the livestock health status – especially gut health- less wet litter problems, lower incidence on diarrhoea and pododermatitis, lower number of dirty eggs, lower somatic cell count in dairy cows
• better performance- higher body weight gain, higher breast meat percentage, more milk, more eggs, higher numbers of weaned piglets with better uniformity
• higher production efficiency: lower FCR, lower mortality rate meaning more birds delivered to the slaughterhouse, less medication costs.
Additionally, betaine has further potential benefits: reducing oxidative stress, lowering carcass fat content, playing a significant role in hepatic protection and serving as a source of glycine, relevant in low protein diets and in nitrogen-reduced feeding.
As livestock production around the world is faced with antimicrobial resistance and gut health related problems, the key focus for betaine application in heat stress or thermo-neutral conditions should be on intestinal integrity and feeding efficiency with lowest possible environmental impact.
Published in association with AGRANA
