ARTICLE FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE November 2025 87 gerol, and piperine, respectively, as main bioactive compounds, has been associated to positive effects on nutrients and energy utilization. The positive impact of Spicy on fat digestibility has been demonstrated in a broiler chicken trial with two different sources of added fats (Figure 1; Ipharraguerre et al., 2009). A total of 96 newly hatched male broiler chickens were distributed in cages and fed diets containing an inert marker to assess fat digestibility between 18 to 21 days of life. The basal diet was based on wheat, barley and soybean meal while a factorial design of the treatments considered the use of two different added fats, soybean oil and pork lard at 4% (unsaturated fatty acid vs. saturated fatty acid source, respectively) and either the addition “on top” or not of Spicy (Spicy vs. Control, respectively). The inclusion of Spicy increased fat digestibility in the animals fed diets with lard as added fat regarding the control treatment (+7%; P < 0.05%), whereas in the case of the chickens fed diets with soybean oil, the improvement was numerical (+3%; P > 0.05). Thus, the magnitude of the beneficial effects of the additive were influenced by the source and chemical composition of the added fat. In fact, the animals fed diets containing lard plus Spicy achieved the same level of fat digestibility as the animals fed diets containing soybean oil, demonstrating the positive effect of the additive on saturated fatty acids absorption in the intestine. In accordance with these findings a study published by Herrero-Encinas et al. (2022) confirmed the consistency of the beneficial effects of Spicy on nutrients digestibility and energy utilization (Figure 2). In this experiment, 480 newly hatched broiler chickens were distributed in two dietary treatments: a control diet based on corn, soybean meal and lard as main fat source (at 4%); and then, the same basal diet with Spicy added “on top”. Furthermore, both diets contained an inert marker to assess the ileal digestibility of nutrients and energy utilization. The authors stated that the use of Spicy increases the ileal digestibility of dry matter and crude protein, and the utilization of gross energy (P<0.05). It is well established that improvements in fat digestion and absorption make the digestive process more * Soybean oil 85 82 79 76 73 70 67 % +3% Crude Fat Digestibility (18 to 21d of life) +7% Lard Control Spicy 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 Dry matter Gross energy Ileal Apparent Digestibility (21d of life) Control Spicy Crude protein * * * % Extracted from Ipharraguerre et al. (2009). Figure 1. Effect of including Spicy on fat apparent total tract digestibility in fecal samples collected between day 18 to 21 of life (*P<0.05). Results expressed as mean average values ± SEM. Extracted from Herrero-Encinas et al. (2022) Figure 2. Effect of including Spicy on dry matter, gross energy and crude protein ileal digestibility on day 21 of life (*P<0.05). Results expressed as mean average values ± SEM.
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