As a producer of both organic acids and monoglycerides, Eastman is banking on the synergies between these components in supporting poultry gut health – which includes promoting a balanced gut microbiota, reinforcing the gut barrier, and optimising nutrient utilisation – to build tailored solutions for their customers that can address their specific needs and support animal performance.
As the company’s Head of Sales for Animal Nutrition in EMEA Jason Lorjé explained to Feedinfo, Eastman understands that a blanket approach to addressing customer concerns is not an ideal model. Each customer is different and therefore requires a different gut health solution that specifically addresses their set of issues.
While these solutions often centred around organic acids before, with the acquisition of 3F Food & Feed in 2021 Eastman has been able to expand their offering to include monoglycerides and plant bioactives, too. For the company, combining these two complementary agents is the most effective strategy to controlling pathogen growth in the whole gastrointestinal tract in poultry and supporting gut health. And it has been hard at work employing combinations of them in tailored solutions to help their customers improve the gut integrity of production flocks and, therefore, performance.
For today’s Industry Perspectives, Mr Lorjé is joined by Applications Development & Technical Services Team Lead Inge Peeters for a more in-depth look at this approach and the science that is powering it. This includes how exactly monoglycerides and organic acids work so well together, some of the research done on monoglycerides and their microbial modulating effect, how the flexibility of this approach to poultry gut health benefits customers, and more.
[Feedinfo] What constitutes Eastman’s strategy for poultry? How does your approach to health challenges in the sector set you apart?
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[Jason Lorjé] At Eastman we have chosen a targeted approach to poultry health challenges where dialogue with the customer is an essential part of understanding the problem and finding the right solution. Today’s modern birds are bred to achieve their optimal performance in quite specific environments, with narrow tolerances for feed ingredient quality and density, and low tolerances for stress and disease. This delicate balance can be easily disturbed by any number of factors. As such you need to understand the specific circumstances that could be influencing the bird's health and performance and be ready to adapt your solution to fit the problem. |
Jason Lorjé |
For example, when presented with a gut health issue, a solution against Salmonella spp would not necessarily be suitable if the underlying cause for the issue is coccidiosis or necrotic enteritis. Similarly, subtle environmental stressors can also present themselves as dysbacteriosis, of which the underlying cause is actually gut inflammation due to oxidative stress caused by proinflammatory processes triggered by the stressor. In this case a solution targeting the primary stressor together with additives reducing cellular oxidative stress can help restore gut function and balance.
At Eastman, we understand that one size does not fit all and our ability to take well-proven concepts and combine them to address a specific issue is of great value to our customers. This flexibility is important as it allows us to build them the right tool for the job.
[Feedinfo] Now, the complementary effects of organic acids and monoglycerides make up a vital part of your approach to poultry health. How do they work together to support your poultry health strategy?
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Inge Peeters |
[Inge Peeters] Gut health is essential to optimising animal performance, therefore good gut integrity, the control of bacterial growth, and the reduction of inflammation and oxidative stress are key pillars to achieving a productive flock. Organic acids and monoglycerides support this separately, but they can work together in an optimised solution that can deliver the best cost benefit. |
Organic acids and monoglycerides play a critical role in broiler gut health, and, therefore, performance. A blend of formic and propionic acid (both organic acids) is an important barrier for acid-sensitive bacteria, such as E. coli, in both the feed and the crop, proventriculus and gizzard. Formic acid also ensures an optimal pH for pepsin activation, which benefits protein digestion, leaving less substrate in the hindgut for pathogenic bacteria like Clostridium. In addition, butyric acid is known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects, and a positive effect on gut integrity. However, its endogenous production is limited, therefore adding it via feed is necessary to ensure continuous availability throughout the digestive tract. Medium chain fatty acids, and certainly medium chain monoglycerides, have strong effects on microbial modulation and pathogen inhibition. By combining monoglycerides of short chain and medium chain fatty acids and adding a formic acid-based blend on top, it is possible to take advantage of these benefits to improve overall gut health.
[Feedinfo] Talk to us about your research on medium chain monoglycerides and their efficacy as microbial modulators. Which monoglycerides did you look at? And what did your studies reveal about how they compared to straight medium chain fatty acids?
[Inge Peeters] Medium chain monoglycerides are more effective microbial modulators than straight medium chain fatty acids. This is because the bactericidal effects of monoglycerides requires them to be present in a concentration at or above the Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC). The lower the CMC, the more easily micelles are formed and the lower the concentration or dietary inclusion rate necessary to observe these benefits. Medium chain monoglycerides are non-ionic, they form micelles more easily and have lower CMCs than their charged counterparts. These findings have been confirmed in literature, but also in research conducted in Eastman’s microbiology lab.
[Feedinfo] How do monoglycerides interact directly with the cell membrane of bacterial cells, and what is the significance of this interaction to broiler gut health?
[Inge Peeters] Monoglycerides are glycerol monoesters of organic acids, i.e., a glycerol molecule is covalently bound to an organic acid in position 1. This chemical structure enables the monoglycerides to interact directly with the cell membrane of bacterial cells, which is different than the interaction by straight organic acids. Monoglycerides are amphiphilic molecules: the carboxyl group of the fatty acid is hydrophilic, while the carbon chain is hydrophobic. These amphiphilic properties destabilise bacterial cell membranes.
Not all monoglycerides have the same mode of action against bacteria: monolaurate (C12) and monocaprin (C10) destabilise bacterial lipid bilayers through tubule formation, complete solubilisation, or both. Others, like monocaprylate (C8), integrate into the pore structure of the cell membrane causing increased permeability and membrane fluidity. The innate fluidity and phospholipid composition of the target organism determine which bacterial strains are more sensitive to which monoglyceride.
Along with the permeability disruptions to the bacterial cell membrane, monoglycerides also interfere with the electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation along with the direct inhibition of membrane enzymes interfering with nutrient uptake. In addition, monoglycerides also show anti-inflammatory effects; more specifically monobutyrin (C4) can positively impact intestinal integrity.
[Feedinfo] So, if combining a formic acid-based blend with varying monoglycerides is an effective strategy to control pathogen growth and support gut health, what is the most effective combination here to achieve maximum benefits?
[Inge Peeters] Combining straight short chain fatty acids with monoglycerides of butyric, and other short and medium chain fatty acids is the most effective strategy to control pathogen growth in the whole gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) and to support gut health. Straight formic and propionic acid blends are a first step to reduce the bacterial load of the feed and reduce the pH to improve digestibility. Monoglycerides are pH independent which allows for activity further down in the GIT. The synergies between different monoglycerides of short and medium chain fatty acids have many beneficial effects inside the animal, from microbial inhibition to managing the stress response of the animal, depending on the organic acid monoglyceride used. Different monoglycerides have different effects; this depends on the chain length of the organic acid that has been esterified. It is important to look at combinations of monoesters – from short to medium chain – for maximum benefit.
[Jason Lorjé] This means we can collaborate with our customers and create tailored solutions that are highly suitable for the specific problems they aim to solve. They can then choose the most efficient method in which to apply these solutions, whether it be in the form of a liquid for administration via water or feed application, or as powdered products.
[Feedinfo] So, what does this look like in practice? Can you give us an example of this flexibility of your portfolio?
[Inge Peeters] Our solutions are based on understanding the specific benefits each of the ‘building blocks’ in our portfolio offers. These building blocks can be combined to cover the different elements of gut health: digestive performance, control of pathogens, reduction of cellular stress/inflammation and gut integrity. To tackle specific challenges, it is very important to understand their root cause and the physiological mechanisms behind them. This means specific building blocks can be chosen to tackle those mechanisms head on.
For example, to cause disease, Streptococcus suis must cross epithelial barriers, enter the bloodstream, and then cause acute inflammation. Intestinal barrier translocation, therefore, is one of the pathways for infection. This is a multifactorial challenge that needs a multifactorial approach. Medium chain fatty acid esters can be utilised for pathogen control, and monoglycerides of butyric acid for strengthening the barrier function and modulating inflammation. Eastman Entero-Nova™ 855C (via feed solution) and Protaq™ Bond 80 (via water solution) are holistic concepts based on the synergistic effects monoglycerides of butyric acid and, other short and medium chain fatty acids can have on the gut barrier, immune function, and pathogen control.
[Feedinfo] But surely all this customisation and tailoring of solutions must come at a cost. Doesn’t this make your offerings more costly than others available on the market?
[Jason Lorjé] When we talk of tailored solutions, they must provide a better cost benefit relative to the closest alternative, otherwise we do not consider them fully tailored to a customer’s need. Today the alternatives available are broad and, depending on the issue, could be anything from antibiotics – if you are talking specific health issues – to a mix of different feed additives that can help achieve the desired objective.
We have a very modern plant that provides us tremendous flexibility. With this flexibility and the building blocks approach Inge talked about earlier, we can look at a customer’s objective and determine how we can improve their overall gut heath strategy to help them meet it.
But each customer is different.
So, in some cases, we have been quite successful in suggesting one tailored solution made up of various alternatives to several additives to lower overall costs. For example, a customer may be using an organic acid blend to manage overall gram-negative bacteria or hygiene issues, together with a phytogenic product designed to target a specific bacterium. They may also be using some antioxidants to manage cellular stress. That’s potentially three separate products with three different sourcing points, each coming with the inherent risk that one of those sources could fail. Our proposed solution is offering one tailored product that covers all the customers’ objectives, simplifying their sourcing and, most likely, lowering their overall costs.
In other cases, customers might not want to take that approach and may have a specific gram-positive problem, like Enterococcus cecorum in a specific phase of production. Here we can offer a product that can be applied via drinking water at that specific phase, thereby complementing what the customer may already be adding through the feed. It all depends on what the customer needs, what they are doing today, and what they expect to achieve tomorrow. Our flexibility and know-how are tools for them to use to achieve their production objectives.
[Feedinfo] Previously, your focus was largely on organic acids, but it is evident that monoglycerides have now been fully incorporated into your offerings. How has this addition benefitted your corporate strategy?
[Jason Lorjé] Eastman hasn’t shifted focus away from organic acids and we remain one of the leading global producers of short chain fatty acids and their organic acid blends. What has changed is Eastman's approach and we have taken quite a leap forward through the acquisition of our monoglyceride platform.
It was a natural step for us to go from organic acids into acid derivatives in the form of monoglycerides and expand our capability and offering to the industry. For us it is a natural progression and allows us to grow our product portfolio and to offer increased value to our customers. The key capability we have today that we didn't have in the past is being able to offer solutions for a broader range of issues and, combined with our new manufacturing capability, we can offer a more targeted solution for each of those issues.
Published in association with Eastman
