ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE February 2026 63 Considering the data from all species, FF supplementation resulted in a lower average acetate-to-propionate ratio compared with the non-supplemented control (1.05 vs. 1.24), showing a consistent numerical reduction that approached statistical significance (p = 0.062). A similar shift toward a lower acetate-to-propionate ratio has been reported in vivo following probiotic supplementation (Mavrommatis et al., 2025). CONCLUSION Under simulated gastrointestinal conditions, the microencapsulated probiotic premix FF enhanced dry matter degradation of forage substrates and showed potential to increase the degradability of grain-based substrates, although additional evidence is required to confirm this effect in the latter case. In addition, FF supplementation was associated with a shift in grain fermentation toward a lower acetate-to-propionate ratio, suggesting improved energetic efficiency. Overall, these findings support the potential use of probiotic premixes as functional feed additives. Further in vivo studies can be conducted to confirm these effects under commercial production conditions. References can be reached here. Ruminant FF n=5 | No n=5 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 Acetate-to-propionate ratio (A:P) Broilers FF n=8 | No n=4 Pigs FF n=16 | No n=6 FF No All FF n=29 | No n=15 About Juan Esteban Vásquez Biological engineer Juan Esteban Vásquez holds a Msc and PhD in Biotechnology. Fermentation Coordinator at Bialtec, Vásquez is a researcher with experience in gastrointestinal simulation models applied on animal nutrition, feed evaluation, and the assessment of functional feed additives. His work focuses on understanding fermentation dynamics, nutrient degradability, and the potential of probiotic-based solutions to support feed efficiency and gut health across different animal species. Figure 3. Acetate-to-propionate ratio across species in in vitro gastrointestinal simulations using grain-based substrates.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjkxNQ==