Challenges in feed in South Asian countries

As in any other region of the world, in South Asia there are multiple challenges that threaten the quality of balanced feed and, therefore, the efficiency of farms. The differences with other regions are determined by the weather conditions since they notably influence the amount and type of microorganisms that develop in the feed and contribute to its deterioration.

The climate of South Asia is varied, but mainly is of two types: tropical and equatorial, both characterized by high temperatures that exceed 30 degrees with little thermal oscillation between day and night, and high levels of humidity during most of the year, which can exceed 80% continuously for very long periods of time.

These climatic conditions facilitate the growth of microorganisms that deteriorate the balanced feed, such as fungi or bacteria of different genera. The climate of the region makes it difficult to control the contamination, especially the fungal one, since the growth of these microorganisms is greatly favoured by the humidity and temperature conditions previously described. The prevalence of fungal contamination is variable, but remarkably high in all cases. Approximately 76.2% of the samples are positive for one or more fungal species. The most frequently isolated fungi are Aspergillus spp. with a prevalence between 68.8% and 70.8% followed by Fusarium spp. between 16.7% and 18.7% and Rhizopus spp. between 11.6% and 12.5%.

In addition to the fungal growth, there are multiple sources of bacterial contamination, such as environmental contamination or floods in monsoon seasons, which aggravate the feed contamination.

Feed conservation strategies in this region

Feed preservation consists of maintaining its physicochemical characteristics, avoiding the loss of nutrients and energy value caused by the activity of the microorganisms present in the feed. Preserving these nutritional and energetic properties is essential to obtain good productive parameters.

Grain and balanced feed preservation can be achieved by adding products that minimize the deterioration, that is, preservatives, which also help to prevent infectious diseases and other derived problems, such as mycotoxicosis, which occurs when those fungi present in the balanced feed have toxigenic potential.

Traditionally, the most widely used products in the South Asian region are mould inhibitors and acidifiers, both based on organic acids and their different types of salts. Among the most used compounds are ammonium propionates and formates, and acetic, lactic, and phosphoric acids. “Acidifier� nomenclature is partially wrong, since these compounds do not lower the feed pH, but rather the intracellular pH of the microorganisms to induce a fungistatic or bacteriostatic action by enzymatic inhibition. However, despite this activity on the microorganisms, they have important limitations:

• Low spectrum of action: one type of acid is effective against a single group of microorganisms (i.e. gram-positive bacteria). The combination of propionic and formic acid is widely used because of this limitation since it allows to slightly increase the spectrum of action of the organic acid-based preservative.
• Short-term effect: Their efficacy lasts for one or two months and then, microorganisms can use acids as a source of energy, accelerating their multiplication.
• Corrosive: acids deteriorate machinery, and their application can be harmful to workers.

As the environmental conditions are poor, the microbial load is high, and in addition, traditional preservatives have many limitations, it is common to find in South Asian feed formulations several products simultaneously and at high doses to control microbial growth. However, this generates a high cost, and the problem is not totally solved.

Alquermold Natural: Biovet S.A. natural preservative, the most effective strategy for feed conservation in South Asia

In Biovet S.A. through direct technical advice to companies in the South Asian region, we detected the need to incorporate a preservative that effectively prevents the deterioration of the feed caused by microorganisms, contrary to what we were observing with the traditional methods based on organic acids typically used in the region. Since then, thanks to the use of Alquermold Natural, the problems of fungal and bacterial contamination of the balanced feed have been significantly reduced, since Alquermold Natural has advantages compared to the limitations of other preservatives.

Alquermold Natural is a botanical preservative developed by Biovet, S.A. Its main active ingredient is cimenol ring, a natural molecule with microbicidal capacity able of eliminating a wide variety of microorganisms present in feed: gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and yeasts. It presents a synergic action with citric acid, also present in small concentrations in the product. This acid creates pores in the membrane of the pathogenic cells and facilitates the entry of the cimenol ring inside them, which breaks the membrane destabilizing the lipid bilayer of the pathogenic cells, both fungi and bacteria.

As it is a microbiocidal product, it completely eliminates pathogenic microorganisms, and the effectiveness of Alquermold Natural lasts for a long time, therefore it serves to preserve grain and compound feed for up to at least six months.

An important characteristic of this product is that it also acts in the digestive tract, acting as an intestinal biocide by controlling those pathogenic microorganisms that can damage the intestine. In this way, if animals are fed with cimenol ring, their intestinal flora will be balanced, and digestive infections will be prevented at the same time.

The product has proven to be widely effective against Clostridium, Salmonella, E. coli, Staphylococcus, Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium, among others. This wide spectrum of action helps to control a great variety of microorganisms with a single molecule.

Alquermold Natural efficacy and positive economic impact, demonstrated in the conditions of the South Asian region

The positive effect on the feed preservation thanks to the use of Alquermold Natural compared to traditional preservation methods was evaluated in the region using the scientific method. After the observation and analysis of the problems showed by the traditional preservation methods, that due to their limitations could not fully mitigate the problem of microbiological contamination of feed, the hypothesis that Alquermold Natural, thanks to its prolonged microbicidal effect, would be able to properly preserve the feed, was established.

In the study, carried out at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), the preservative effect of a mould inhibitor was evaluated against Alquermold Natural at two different doses. One dose was equivalent to the competitor product, and the other was the usual dose recommended by Biovet.

The efficacy was evaluated through the improvement in the main productive parameters, which was observed with the use of Alquermold Natural, especially on weight and feed conversion rate.

As observed in charts 1 and 2, both groups supplemented with Alquermold Natural obtained an improvement both compared to the control and to the mould inhibitor used as a traditional preservative in the region. In the case of Alquermold Natural supplemented at the same dose as the competitor product (1 kg/t), Biovet’s natural preservative improved weight on day 28 by 5% compared to the control (90.55 g), while the competitor product only showed an improvement of 1% (13.98 g).

Likewise, when Alquermold Natural was administered at the usual dose (0.5 kg/t) also obtained a better result than the competitor, with a 2% improvement in weight (29.18 g), taking into account that the competitor was supplemented at a double dose.

Regarding the feed conversion rate (FCR), Alquermold Natural supplemented at the same dose as the competitor preservative obtained an improvement of 5 points (4%) in FCR, and, supplemented at the usual dose (0.5 kg/t), Alquermold Natural achieved and improvement of 3 points (3%) compared to the control. However, the competitor product only achieved a 1% improvement compared to the control.

With these results, it can be concluded that Alquermold Natural shows a better effect on the feed preservation than a traditional mold inhibitor used in the South Asian region, with an improvement, both in the final weight and in the feed conversion rate. This improvement extrapolated per each million broilers would lead to produce 76.57 more tons of meat, saving of 77.07 tons of feed.

Besides, there are many other advantages derived from the use of Alquermold Natural, which, in addition to being effective as a feed preservative, the product has a marked effect as an intestinal biocide. Thanks to its microbicidal effects, it is effective in the prevention of intestinal dysbiosis that can lead to diarrhea and/or necrotic enteritis outbreaks, as well as other diseases caused by many enterobacteria. In addition, Alquermold Natural favours the development of beneficial flora.

Conclusion

South Asian climatic and environmental characteristics make feed highly prone to be contaminated by microorganisms, especially by fungi, whose prevalence is above 70%, but also by bacteria. Traditionally, in the South Asian region, different types of products have been used to prevent deterioration caused by these microorganisms, such as preservatives based on organic acids and their derived salts. However, these types of substances cannot solve the problem due to their limitations, such as their narrow spectrum of action and the short duration of their effect due to they are only bacteriostatic and fungistatic and do not have the ability to completely eliminate microorganisms. Alquermold Natural, a natural preservative developed by Biovet, S.A. has proven to be effective in feed preservation, showing better results compared to traditional preservation methods, having a positive economic impact in the farms and, furthermore, with the added value of improving intestinal health by controlling pathogenic flora and stimulating the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the gut