ARTICLE 58 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE May 2023 To feed the world’s growing population, the animal feed industry will need more protein sources. Competition with human-edible proteins, pressure on agricultural land, sustainability and climate changes are factors limiting the development of conventional protein sources. Therefore, alternative protein sources are needed to supply the animal nutrition market demand. YELA PROSECURE is a specifically designed hydrolyzed yeast that offers great potential as a functional protein source, in particular thanks to its flash and fast kinetics of protein digestibility. ABOUT PROTEIN DIGESTIBILITY Proteins are biological macromolecules made up of amino acids. Protein bioavailability is strongly related to its amino acid composition, size, and mass range. Big proteins, protein-associated molecules and nucleic acids have lower digestibility compared to free amino acids and small peptides, which have been exposed to a multiple nitrogen hydrolysis process that makes them more bioavailable (Figure 1). The digestion process is complex. It is driven by enzymatic activities and is pH dependent. In monogastric animals, this process starts in the stomach where protein denaturation occurs thanks to pepsin activation. In the duodenum, pancreatic and intestinal wall enzymes continue the digestion process, breaking down the proteins. The absorption of amino acids, dipeptides and tripeptides occurs in the jejunum. The large intestine is the location of microbial fermentation, where short chain fatty acids (SCFA) are produced. PROTEIN DIGESTIBILITY KINETICS: A key criterion for discriminating protein sources in feeds Bruno Bertaud Technical Manager, Yeast Derivatives and Swine solutions Lallemand Animal Nutrition, France Figure 1. Enzymatic protein digestion process
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