Effective alternatives to antibiotics in livestock feed
International efforts are being made to restrict or ban antibiotics use in livestock feed also there is an increasing interest to look for sustainable alternatives to antibiotics growth promoters (AGPs). Improving growth performance and maintaining intestinal health are the keys to successfully reducing the use of AGPs.
Depending on the yeast productivity and R&D advantages, Angel Yeast has developed the yeast derived product YeaSense. YeaSense is a kind of yeast essence that can produce a bacteriostatic zone, mainly composed of yeast glycoprotein, which is the main functional substance that promotes growth and maintains intestinal health. The yeast derived product has been reported to increase resistance to infections and serve as an immunomodulator. The product exerts antibacterial functions by interfering metabolism and growth of pathogens, and disrupting bacterial cell membranes. It can not only replace AGPs in feed, play a role in promoting growth, but also reduce the occurrence of diseases.
Alternative to AGPs
To study the effect of the yeast derived product as an alternative to AGPs, Angel Yeast cooperated with the Institute of Subtropical Agricultural Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to conduct a comparative study in piglets, and the test scale reached 240 weaned piglets. Researchers replaced AGPs (25% quinocetone 200 mg/kg and 4% enduracidin 800 mg/kg of the basal diet) with YeaSense (800mg/kg) in the diet of weaned piglets over a 28 day period. The results confirmed that the supplementation of the yeast derived product, instead of AGPs, could increase growth performance and feed intake (Table 1), improve intestinal health through protecting intestinal morphology and permeability, thereby increasing the absorption of nutrients and growth performance. Moreover, it could reduce intestinal inflammation response, improve immunity, and decrease diarrhoea rate as compared with AGPs (Figure 1). Taken together, the product is not only a substitute for AGPs, but also a new choice for non-antibiotic management.
Figure 1 – Effects of dietary supplementation with YeaSense on the diarrhoea rate and mortality rate in weaned piglets.
Yeast and yeast derivatives
Founded in 1986, Angel Yeast Co., Ltd. specialises in the production of yeast and yeast derivatives. Angel’s main products include baker’s yeast and ingredients, Chinese dim sum & seasoning, yeast extract – savoury, human health, animal nutrition, plant nutrition, distilled spirits, biofuels, microbial nutrition and enzymes. At present, Angel Yeast has 11 international advanced production bases providing products and services to more than 150 countries and regions around the world.
