WO2013108061A1

WO2013108061A1 - Technological adjuvant for fodders and supplements of zootechnical breeding and farming

Info

Publication number: WO2013108061A1
Application number: PCT/IB2012/000089
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gianluca CHIESA
Original assignee: NATUR FEED S.r.l.
Priority date: 2012-01-20
Filing date: 2012-01-20
Publication date: 2013-07-25
Also published as: AR089743A1; TW201330780A

Abstract

A technological adjuvant for fodders and supplements of zootechnical breeding and farming is described, comprising the following components: (a) mixture of vegetable fiber with a high percentage of lignin; (b) amino acids supplements; (c) other natural supplementary components; and (d) flavors and natural extracts: these components are mixed, powdered and micronized in the form of flour and powder with size from 0.4 to 0.8 Dalton. With the addition of this adjuvant both a great physiological and nutritional benefits for the animals, and very important environmental and economic benefits for the breeders are obtained, deriving both from the improved growth performance of animals, and from the reduction of the amount of food used.

Description

"Technological adjuvant for fodders and supplements of zootechnical breeding and farming"

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relatess to raw material to use as adjuvant in the formulation of fodders and supplements of zootechnical breeding and farming. This adjuvant will be hereinafter referred to for the sake of brevity with the abbreviation FIVE TEC.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The vegetable fiber is a fundamental component of the dietary habits in the zootechnical breeding and farming (cattle, swine, ovine, poultry) , such that for some specific categories (e.g. white meat suckling calves) the integration of the diet with vegetable fiber is the object of legal obligation (EU regulation) .

The vegetable fiber is a vital nutritive principle (even essential for the ruminants) .

The Fiber is the term used to indicate the set of the constituents of the vegetables cellular wall or, sometimes, the set of the foods which are rich of that .

The fiber is therefore the set of the structural polysaccharides present in the plant food. It is constituted by cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, other polysaccharides.

Every sort of zootechnical food has a specific composition of the fiber itself, determined by the percentage division of the various components and, within these, by the cellular structure of every component.

For example the cellulose component, besides the percentage on the total fiber, has various structures for each sort of food.

The lignin component presents very different structures depending on the considered foods too, showing more or less light or heavy and more or less fibrous or compact compositions (the same differences that are found between poplar and/or walnut wood) . Until today the whole academic literature and the whole zootechnical practice considers the use of the vegetable fiber as a diet component, takes into account just the cellulose and hemicellulose part which, through enzymatic processes, operates anyhow in the nutritive path.

The lignin, in the whole literature and the whole practice, is always considered as a negative or neutral element, "indigestible, it lowers the digestibility of the other components, because it encrusts the wall itself".

The lignin, is neither a polysaccharide, nor a glucide. It is a mixture of aromatic polymers derived from some precursors and it is anyway a substance which is a part of the vegetables cell wall.

To summarize, in the whole zootechnical field, the fiber has always been evaluated, analyzed, studied, used, and given just for the cellulose and hemicellulose part.

It has always been searched for and considered a fiber with an high percentage of cellulose, and with a low presence of lignin.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

In this general context (zootechnical feed) , FIVE TEC represents an innovative and revolutionary vegetable fiber for the zootechnical field.

These are the main elements of innovation/invention:

1) Composition of FIVE TEC

For the first time, in the zootechnical field, the vegetable fiber is used and valued for its lignin component and not for its cellulosic component.

FIVE TEC has a high percentage of lignin, significantly higher percentage compared to the cellulosic component. So the component considered until today as negative and antinutritional in the dietary formulation, becomes instead a positive and innovational element.

2) FIVE TEC use FIVE TEC is a "technological adjuvant" and not anymore one of the nutritional components of the formulation.

To summarize, the administration of FIVE TEC does not enter and does not modify in any way the feed formula used in breeding and farming, but it proposes itself as an additional external component .

3) Operation of FIVE TEC

The vegetable fiber FIVE TEC is no longer more conceived, thought and valued for the feeding/nutritional effects, but just for its "mechanical" effect of slowing down the food transit inside the digestive system."

4) FIVE TEC formulation

Another innovative element concerns the particular FIVE TEC formulation, it has been identified a main and predominant component which had never been used before in zootechny. Another distinction is about the procedures and forms (micronized flour) of FIVE TEC.

To summarize the FIVE TEC innovation concerns a set of new elements, which had been never used and thought before in zootechny, which change radically the theories and practices of this field:

the detection of a fiber with a high percentage of "heavy" lignin (normally rejected for this reason) ;

the "mechanical" use of the product, which uses the lignin component, before considered as antinutritional ;

the micronized form, which guarantees the correct "mechanical" effect of slowing down without causing blocks; the operational flexibility as technological adjuvant, which insert itself in the normal dietary formulation without changing the nutritional parameters .

FIVE TEC EFFECTS ON ANIMALS

The positive effects of FIVE TEC on diet could be defined in three levels:

Direct effect on food consumption The unique structure of FIVE TEC and its specific gravity, with its ability to absorb fluids, causes a quick satiety for the animal, reducing the animal voracity and reducing the amount of food ingested.

Effect on the food digestion

The unique fibrous structure of FIVE TEC guarantees a slowed down transit of the food in the animal digestive system. This mechanical effect allows the animal to optimize the absorption process of the nutrients, improving the animal "performance" . So the amount of non-digested food, which is expelled with the feces, is reduced.

The technological process to which FIVE TEC is submitted, that is to say the micronization and the forced decomposition of the fiber, avoids the negative effect of the food cementation and then the animal constipation.

Effect on the food elimination

Reducing the amount of ingested food, it is immediately reduced the amount of expelled feces too.

The quality of the feces itself is also importantly changed, there will be a reduction of the dry part, of the amount of protein, and of the ammoniac COD.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The adjuvant FIVE TEC is therefore a formulation with the following components: 1) mixture of vegetable fiber with a high lignin percentage, about 65% of the mixture weight; 2) supplement amino acids; 3) other natural supplementary substances; and 4) natural flavors and extracts.

It appears as a micronized flour with a particle size from 0.4 to 0.8 Dalton, it has a long storage life, it requires neither preservatives nor dyestuffs, it is not toxic. About the variability expected in the chart, various specific formules are planned depending on the use field. Until today it has been made a version for sow and for fattening swine; for piglets up to 18 Kg; for suckling calves; for bovines; for poultry and hens. In each of these formules can change the number of the specific ingredients for each of the four basic component categories. So depending on the availability even seasonal of the raw materials, for example shells and stones of just some of the fruit shown in the chart can be used.

FIVE TEC formula is summarized in this chart:

(a)

(c)

(d) NATURAL FLAVORS AND EXTRACTS 0,25% 1%

Carob flavorings powder q.s. q.s.

Soft fruits flavorings powder q.s. q.s.

Licorice flavorings powder q.s. q.s.

Extotic fruits flavorings powder q.s. q.s.

Biscuit and/or panettone flavorings powder q.s. q.s.

THE PRODUCTION PROCESS OF FIVE TEC

FIVE TEC fiber is in the form of micronized flour and it has undergone a particular production process to transform the fiber to the required size.

The FIVE TEC production process has no particular innovations, because it uses plants and processes already- used in the zootechnical field. The production process is structured in the following phases :

Analysis of input raw materials and verification of compliance to the specifications;

Wheighing;

Mixing of the raw components;

3 cycles of rolling milling for an increasingly thin grain;

Separation filter;

First cold-micronization cycle, to avoid that the heat alters the chemical -physical and dietetic structure of the product;

Separation filter;

Second micronization cycle;

Separation filter;

Return to the cycle start of parts outside the specified range (size bigger than those specified) .

FIVE TEC APPLICATION TESTS

FIVE TEC underwent various verifications, analysis, controls and on field tests to assure the effectiveness of the product .

The FIVE TEC study and development process could be simplified in the following phases: Phase 1: laboratory preliminary analysis (structure and detailed composition of the product, compared with the dietary fiber available on the market;

Phase 2 : first preliminary test on some (very few) sample animals (verification of the administration of the product, palatability, digestibility, definition of dosages, etc.). this phase has lasted 30 days.

Phase 3 : laboratory analysis on the results of the phase 2 (preliminary and subsequent blood and feces analysis; verification of body parameters as weight, amount of ingested food, etc.).

Phase 4 : test program definition, in cooperation with Piacenza and Cremona Universities;

Phase 5: implementation of the first test which has involved in all 287 animals, mainly swine (control group and test group) in 5 breeding sites in the North of Italy (Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia) . This phase has lasted 78 days.

Phase 6 : test results analysis with comparison of the before and after tests, both of the control group and of the test group (body parameters analysis, blood and feces analysis) ;

Phase 7: test extension beyond 78 days, for two selected groups, in order to check the long-term effects. These tests have been conducted with two different FIVE TEC formulations, indicated with SI for sows and swine in general and S2 for piglets . The results are highlighted in the following charts.

4. Tests on the FIVE TEC product

The product FIVE TEC SI and S2 , has followed a first experimentation cycle which has consisted in:

FIVE TEC laboratory analysis, compared to the main "raw" fiber (corncob, chaff, etc.) and with the main fiber supplements on the European market: Fibrecell Ml (KALMI) ; FibreCell (AGROMED) ; Raw fibre (JELUVET) ;

Administration starting test of FIVE TEC on few head, to check the presence/absence of side effects resulting from the administration of this particular fiber;

Expanded field test, which has involved numerous animals in 5 different breeding sites in Lombardy and Piedmont .

The tests have been performed between October 15^th and October 30^th, 2011.

Here follows the method used for the tests and a summary of the main results noted in the period.

5. Target of the FIVE TEC field test The FIVE TEC field test aims to verify, through his mechanical and systematic activity, the:

Direct and indirect effects on the complete food digestive process,

The effects on the food transit time in the intestinal tract and the evaluation of the food degradation process;

The effects on the main enzymatic process stimulation and activation in the piglets (stimulation of the amylase production, etc.);

> The effects on the intestinal microflora (pathogen reduction) ;

Evaluation of the apparent digestibility (increase or reduction) and its food absorption.

The test working hypothesis is that the mixing of FIVE TEC in the fodder guarantees, with an equal breeding performance (animal weight gain, quality of growth) :

A lower fodder consumption per head;

A mitigation of the pollution load of feces (quantity and quality of them) .

6. Test method

The experimental field tests were conducted according to the following experimental protocol: Animals SOWS

PIGLETS

Foods COMMERCIAL FODDER

According to the formulation normally used in breeding and farming

Test duration SOWS: 78 days

PIGLETS: 30 days

Number of animals involved in the SOWS: 87 head

test PIGLETS: 200 head

Method The animals, in each breeding site, have been divided into control group and FIVE TEC fed group.

For the SOWS, two feeding group were created:

SOWS control group

SOWS group with a 2,5% FIVE TEC ration

For the PIGLETS three feeding group werecreated:

PIGLETS contol group

PIGLETS group with 250 g/day ration of FIVE TEC PIGLETS group with 400 g/day ration of FIVE TEC

Control Analysis Initial weight

Weight at 14 days

Final weight (at 78 days for the sows and at 30 days for the piglets)

Fodder consumption

Growth

Death rate

Blood sampling at 14 days, and at 28 days

Feces sampling at the beginning and after 28 days

The data in the chart are the arithmetic mean of the individual measured values .

7. Test results on the PIGLETS

Index IC 1,77 1,46 1,57

The test group fed with 250 g/q of FIVE TEC has noticed the best performance, so when we analyzed the results of analysis of this group in comparison with the control group.

Analysis of the results on piglets

The feeding test on piglets weighing from 6 to 14 kg, over a period of 30 days, has highlighted some very significant results: FIVE TEC induces the piglet to a lower consumption (average daily and total) of 10,5% in comparison with the control group. It derives from a "natural" and not forced behavior of the animal, direct effect of the satiety induced by FIVE TEC.

The growth performance is not affected from the lower food consumption. Indeed it is noted during the period a weight gain of 8,7% in the group fed with FIVE TEC. It is confirmed that the FIVE TEC "mechanical" action (slowing of transit) allows the optimization of nutrients absorption.

The combined effect (lower consumption of food, greater increase in weight) provides an important economic advantage for the breeders .

8. Test results on the SOWS

Analysis of the results on sows

The test on the sows, lasted 78 days, has involved an amount of 87 head, measured in the period between the 31^st gestation day and the delivery, for a total period of 78 days .

Also in this case the results highlights:

An important increase (+5%) of the average number of weaned piglets in favor of sows fed with FIVE TEC;

A reduction of the food daily ration of - 13,5%, equal to 0,7 kg per head/day less, which corresponds in the period to a total reduction of 54,6 kg of fodder per head.

9. Activation of the enzyme production in PIGLETS

One of the analyzed element during the test which allows to explain at least in part the very positive results obtained on growth performance of piglets, concerns the analysis on the amylase concentration in the blood, the main enzyme which decomposes starch into sugars .

In just weaned piglets the deficiency of amylase is chronic and normally the animals are helped with the administration of enzymes of chemical production, otherwhise with cooked food. In the test, against administration of raw products, was a significant and natural increase of amylase in the blood of piglets fed with FIVE TEC.

CONCENTRATION OF AMYLASE (IU/L)

Analysis care of the Microbiology Laboratory of the

Universita Cattolica in Cremona.

10. Effects evaluation of FIVE TEC on the intestinal microflora and on the composition and consistency of the PIGLETS' feces

Another parameter which has been put under control and analyzed, concerns the composition and the consistency of the piglets' feces.

The aim of this analysis was to evaluate if the use of FIVE TEC, besides intervening on the optimization of the feeding, it has led to benefits on the wastewater treatment.

Raw protein (N-nitrogen) 2,80 kg/m³ 0,75 kg/m³

COD-load ammonia (ref. to 100) 70 36

Fiber 4,75 gr/kg 7,82 gr/kg

Heavy metals assenti assenti

Undigested starch 5,12 g/kg 2,27 g/kg

Analysis care of the Zooprophylaxis Institute in Brescia .

The reduction of the ammonia loading has clearly reduced the ammonia emission and the smells in the breeding sites.

From the previous detailed description can be understood as the technological adjuvant of this invention represents a considerable advance over existing products on the market so far, with physiological and nutritional benefits for the animals, very important environmental and economic benefits for the breeders, deriving both from the improved growth performance of animals, and from the reduction of the amount of food used. It should finally be noted that the application field of the adjuvant is by no means limited to the category of animals previously subjected to experimentation and that the list of individual specific ingredients listed in the chart of its formulation is not exhaustive but can be supplemented with other equivalent ingredients .·

The characteristics of the adjuvant are otherwise defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. Technological adjuvant for fodders and supplements of zootechnical breeding and farming, comprising the following components: (a) mixture of vegetable fiber with a high percentage of lignin; (b) amino acids supplements; (c) other natural supplementary components; and (d) flavors and natural extracts: these components are mixed, powdered and micronized in the form of flour and powder with size from 0.4 to 0.8 Dalton.

2. Technological adjuvant according to claim 1, characterized in that the mixture of vegetable fibers of the component (a) , has a lignin content of not less than 60% on the weight of the said mixture.

3. Technological adjuvant according to claim 1, characterized in that the components have the following percentages by weight: mixture (a) from 75% to 98.75%; amino acids supplements from 0,5 % to 5%; other natural supplementary components (c) from 1% to 15%; flavors and natural extracts (d) from 0,25% to 1%.

4. Technological adjuvant according to claim 1, characterized in that the component (a) comprises at least one of the following ingredients: Almond shell (Prunus dulcis), Hazelnut shell (Corylus avellana, Corilus colurna) , Walnut shell (Juglans regia L., Bertholletia excelsa, Macadamia integrifolia, Carya illinoinensis) , Pine nuts shell (Pinus pinea and other species) , Coconut shell, Pistachio shell, Olive stone (all the species) , Peach stone (all the species) , Plum stone (all the species) , Medlar stone (Eriobotrya japonica) , Cherry and Blackcherry stone (all the species), Apricot stone (all the species), Wheat straw, Wheat bran, Corncob (middlings), Dried chard flesh, Soybean.

5. Technological adjuvant according to claim 1, characterized in that the component (b) comprises at least one of the following ingredients: L-lysine, methionine, threonine, tryptophan.

6. Technological adjuvant according to claim 1, characterized in that the component (c) comprises at least one of the following ingredients: Carob, Gentian, Rosemary, Alfalfa, Willow, Sage, Aloe, Garlic, Thyme, Algae Asophyllum Nodosus .

7. Technological adjuvant according to claim 1, characterized in that the component (d) comprises at least one of the following ingredients: Carob flavorings Soft fruits flavorings, Licorice flavorings, Exotic fruits flavorings, Biscuit and/or panettone flavorings.

8. Technological adjuvant according to the preceding claims, characterized in that its dosage is between 200 and 400g per quintal of complete food, equal to 2-4%, corresponding to a percentage of about 2-3 % of lignin on the total weight of the daily animal dietary.