The feed industry has devoted much attention to the use of many feed additives to break down feed into absorbable nutrients. This, explains animal nutrition firm Pathway Intermediates, is certainly important, but it is only part of the story of digestion.
Pathway Intermediates, EASY BIO’s integrated brand for feed additives, has devoted itself to improving on the second, and less commonly addressed, part of that story, where those nutrients are taken up by the cells of the body. Today, we hear from the company’s Product Manager, Jacob Bae on the latest science behind how Pathway Intermediates’ flagship product Lipidol manages to accomplish this, and on the improvements to productivity and sustainability that come along with the use of an absorption accelerator.
[Feedinfo] Lysophospholipids like those found in Lipidol incorporate themselves into an animals’ cellular membrane. Can you explain how this facilitates the absorption of nutrients from feed?
|
[Jacob Bae] Lipidol, an absorption accelerator of Pathway Intermediates, contains functional lysophospholipids derived from high-quality soy lecithin. Functional lysophospholipids are produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of phospholipids in soy lecithin, which can be directly integrated into the cell membrane, reshaping membrane structure due to their structural similarity to phospholipids. This restructuring enhances the fluidity of cell membranes, thereby facilitating nutrient absorption through three key pathways: |
Jacob Bae |
1) increasing the contact between the cell membrane and nutrients via the curvature of the phospholipid bilayer; 2) facilitating the simple diffusion of nutrients via the membrane with increased fluidity; and 3) stimulating the activation of the channel proteins and improving the activation duration of the channel proteins.
[Feedinfo] Which specific categories of nutrients—glucose, protein/amino acids, fat, etc.—can take advantage of this pathway to improved absorption?
[Jacob Bae] The activation of channel proteins by Lipidol promotes the absorption of carbohydrates and amino acids, which utilize these proteins for their uptake into the body. Lipidol effectively enhances the energy and protein digestibility in the feed by facilitating nutrient absorption through channel proteins. Additionally, lysophospholipids exhibit excellent emulsification properties, encouraging the formation of smaller micelles of fats in the gastrointestinal tract. Hence, it effectively improves fat digestibility. Through these mechanisms, Lipidol leads to the acceleration of comprehensive absorption of nutrients in animals.
[Feedinfo] What kind of empirical data do you have demonstrating Lipidol’s improvements to cell membrane permeability or to the digestibility of various nutrients?
[Jacob Bae] Pathway Intermediates has extensive empirical data demonstrating the efficacy of Lipidol in various species of livestock animals. Through a collaborative study with Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, Pathway Intermediates discovered that supplementation of Lipidol increased glucose uptake in the intestinal epithelial cell based on a cellular model study. Furthermore, with Optipharm, a biomedical affiliate of Pathway Intermediates, we found that Lipidol supplementation enhanced neutral lipid accumulation in both human and swine cell models. As an extension of these studies, we have recently discovered that the absorption of nutrients such as glucose and amino acids passing through intestinal cells is effectively increased through the supplementation of Lipidol.
In animal trials, we have also observed that Lipidol can improve the bioavailability of various nutrients. In numerous studies, Lipidol has improved the digestibility of energy, protein, and fat in the feed effectively. One of the key studies is the article by Solbi et al. (2021) published in the Italian Journal of Animal Science. In this study, broiler chickens were fed three different diets with varying oil sources (soy oil, flaxseed oil, and sesame oil). As a result, Lipidol significantly increased the ileal digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and crude fat regardless of the oil sources. In addition, Lipidol supplementation improved body weight gain and FCR of broilers regardless of the oil sources. Hence, this study revealed that feeding Lipidol enhanced the absorption of various nutrients as well as the growth performance of broiler chickens.
[Feedinfo] What are the effects of feeding Lipidol on animal performance more generally?
[Jacob Bae] Feeding Lipidol leads to improved animal performance by increasing the bioavailability of nutrients, resulting in enhanced body weight gain, feed efficiency, egg production, and milk yield across various species. For instance, it is expected to improve ADG by 5.0% and FCR by 4.2% in broiler, when applied with the recommended dosage of Lipidol.
Additionally, Lipidol allows for energy reduction in feed formulation. Lipidol can successfully reduce the use of energy sources in the feed by increasing the bioavailability of nutrients. Through numerous internal evaluations, we provide a validated matrix value for feed formulation. For instance, we recommend a reduction of 100 kcal ME/kg through Lipidol in broilers and swine feed. Lots of evaluations have revealed that the addition of Lipidol in low-energy diets showed the same or better performance compared to animals fed high-energy diets.
[Feedinfo] Improving the digestibility of nutrients ultimately allows farmers to achieve more growth with less feed, which is important for the bottom line. Meanwhile, it also allows for a reduction in the amount of undigested nutrients which are excreted into the environment. Can you talk about what this means for areas which are increasingly concerned about nitrogen emissions? Where does Pathway Intermediates see interest in such solutions?
[Jacob Bae] For the same animal performance, Lipidol can reduce the use of energy sources in feed and as a result, Lipidol can effectively reduce feed costs. By reducing feed costs with better performance, Lipidol can improve the profitability of producers.
Recently, Pathway Intermediates has taken a step further from performance improvement and cost saving. We propose solutions to environmental issues and sustainability in the global livestock industry through Lipidol.
By improving nutrient digestibility, Lipidol reduces the amount of undigested nutrients including nitrogen excreted into the environment, thus lowering greenhouse gas emissions. It can contribute to sustainable agriculture by reducing not only nitrous oxide but also carbon dioxide. The use of Lipidol in broiler feed reduced greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 15.6%, and when applied to swine feed, it reduced greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 8.4%.
[Feedinfo] Lipidol is one of the company’s flagship products. Can you share any insight into your objectives for it—whether on the R&D front, the commercial front, or elsewhere—over the coming years? What should the market be expecting from Pathway Intermediates in the absorption accelerators category going forward?
[Jacob Bae] Pathway Intermediates has long accumulated data on Lipidol and aims to expand the applicability of Lipidol by utilizing those data. We would like to provide precise applications of Lipidol to customers based on the specific requirements. Additionally, Pathway Intermediates is committed to exploring Lipidol's potential in promoting the absorption of diverse nutrients across various animal species. At the same time, we are continuously studying its contribution to eco-friendly livestock production. Integration of Lipidol with other products in our portfolio will also be a key aspect of our strategy moving forward.
Published in association with Pathway Intermediates