ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE March 2025 49 is a current topic, and not limited only to tropical regions of the world, due to rising temperatures and global warming. Heat stress is caused by the negative balance between the heat generated by the animal and the heat dissipated in the environment. This type of stress results in several changes in behavior, metabolism and physiology, such as decreased feed intake, inflammation, immune dysfunction and metabolic disorders. For instance, Chen et al., 2025 states a decrease by 2.7% (and up to 19.2%) of the feed efficiency in heat-stressed dairy cows. Qualitative betaine sources, like Excential Beta-Key (Orffa Additives B.V.), are functional compounds well known as the most efficient donor of methyl groups, with only 55% efficiency from choline compared to betaine. Not only betaine can contribute to feed efficiency by sparing other nutrients (choline and methionine) in the liver, but it’s also a protective osmolyte. Therefore, betaine will protect cell structures and maintain cellular activity against osmotic stress in challenging environments. Uyanga et al., 2022 proves the numerous benefits of betaine in such conditions on immune function, intestinal function, reproduction, cytoprotection and ultimately feed efficiency. Moreover, the worldwide regulations are also impacting feed utilization. First of all, to counteract antimicrobial resistance, several regions are experiencing the challenge of rearing animals with a restricted use of antibiotics. However, the resulting increasing levels of bacterial pathogens or parasites have a detrimental impact on nutrient digestion and performance (e.g. impact on bile acids, natural emulsifiers). As a result, the use of digestibility promoters is crucial to restore performance. Moreover, when focusing on the EU market, a number of regulations such as the Regulation (EU) 2025/74, imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of lysine from China, could result in ingredients substitution (e.g. from single amino acids to imported soybean meal). This could negatively affect FCR levels of European animals due to potential nutritional imbalances. In these circumstances, several additives supporting the amino acid metabolism are valuable = - Digestibility promoter that increase the digestibility and absorption of amino acids (e.g. sparing of 0.18 g lysine/kg of feed with Excential Energy Plus); - Betaine that promotes the recycling of homocysteine into methionine (e.g. up to 10% of total methionine saved by Excential Beta-Key); - Guanidinoacetic acid that spares dietary arginine being a precursor of creatine (e.g. with Excential Kiamino ((Orffa Additives B.V.)), Figure 2). WHAT ABOUT ECO-EFFICIENCY? Eco-efficiency is “based on the idea of 'doing more with less', that is, reducing the consumption of resources and the impact on nature while maintaining or increasing the value of the manufactured product” (Kopnina and Brewitt, 2018). While speFigure 2. Mode of action of guanidinoacetic acid.
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