Yeast extracts can enhance pet food palatability by drawing out savoury umami flavours with their naturally occurring glutamic acid and nucleotide profiles. Yeast extracts provide meaty and roasted notes that appeal to carnivorous pets more than grain-based flavours, ensuring animals enjoy their food and consume enough to get sufficient nutrients in their diet.
Business Development Manager, Animal Health
Ohly
According to a recent report, the global pet food market size was valued at $120.87 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow from $126.66 billion in 2024 to $193.65 billion by 2032, with premium products playing a significant role in this growth.
Pet owners are now more invested in their pets’ health and well-being, and are seeking food options that provide high nutritional benefits, and enhanced taste. This shift is pushing pet food manufacturers to focus not only on the nutritional content of their products but also on palatability to meet the demands of health-conscious owners.
When it comes to animal feed and pet food, yeast has a variety of beneficial uses. From nucleotides for immune support to yeast extracts for palatability, there are a range of benefits for both the livestock and pet food industries.
Yeast is used in animal feeds for two primary reasons: for growth and for immune support and palatability. They boost immune function and gut health, enhancing nutrient absorption and disease resistance, thereby promoting overall growth and health.
IMPROVING GROWTH AND IMMUNE SUPPORT
Beta-glucans and mannan-oligosaccharides, present within yeast cell walls, both have immune-supporting properties. Nucleotides, found within yeast extract, are involved in the development and maturation of immune cells.
Incorporating dietary nucleotides into feed also helps to improve animal health along with supporting daily weight gain. Whilst nucleotides are produced naturally in the body through the process of synthesis, animals are often not able to produce enough when experiencing rapid growth. For this reason, adding yeast products to animal feed is an effective way to boost animal growth and enhance health.
IMPROVING PALATABILITY
Yeast extracts can enhance pet food palatability by drawing out savoury umami flavours with their naturally occurring glutamic acid and nucleotide profiles. Yeast extracts provide meaty and roasted notes that appeal to carnivorous pets more than grain-based flavours, ensuring animals enjoy their food and consume enough to get sufficient nutrients in their diet.
They can provide meaty and roasted notes that are more palatable for carnivorous animals than grains. Tasty and enjoyable food ensures that pets eat enough to get the nutrients they need.
Additionally, yeast extracts can effectively mask undesirable flavours, making them valuable for improving the taste of pet supplements and medicines. Palatability is even more critical in these types of formulations containing ingredients like vitamins, trace minerals or pharmaceuticals which are nutritionally important but which may have off-putting flavours or textures for pets.
Yeast extract is a natural and safe ingredient without genetic modification. Rich in essential nutrients and highly digestible proteins, yeast extract offers support to the immune system and improves the daily weight gain and gut health of animals. Since yeast extracts are highly palatable, often adding meaty or roasted notes, animals are much more willing to eat food that encompasses this component.
CATERING TO THE PREFERENCES OF PETS AND CONSUMERS
One of the most difficult challenges manufacturers face is catering to “picky eaters.” Pets are not only sensitive to taste but also to texture, smell, and even the shape of the kibble.
In a recent survey, 85% of pet owners considered palatability one of the most important factors when selecting food, underscoring how critical it is for manufacturers to get the flavour profile right.
Palatants, ingredients added to pet food to improve mouthfeel and appeal, are key to making sure pets enjoy their meals.
To remain competitive, businesses are increasingly focusing on tailoring their products to specific consumer needs. The industry is seeing advancements in palatability enhancers that can mask the taste of bitter but nutritious ingredients.
Manufacturers must find a balance between their aim for high-quality products and cost considerations. Producing highly palatable products can be costly, and manufacturers must decide how to divide resources between flavour enhancements and nutritional additives.
This delicate balance often requires extensive testing to ensure that pets receive not only balanced nutrition but also a product they will readily consume.
As the pet food industry evolves, manufacturers that innovate to cater to pets’ nuanced preferences, as well as meet the nutritional standards of health-conscious owners, will stand out in this competitive market.
Palatants are essential pet food ingredients for enhancing taste, and masking the off-notes of functional additives or alternative proteins, particularly for carnivorous pets.
Yeast extracts are rich in palatable ingredients like amino acids and nucleotides. These aid palatability by intensifying and drawing out savoury flavours in both pet food and animal feed. Additionally, nucleotides are known to support immune function and enhance overall animal health.
These elements occur naturally in yeast, which means that they’re both easy to harness and a perfectly healthy solution for pet food or animal feed products.
About Henning Gerstenkorn
Henning Gerstenkorn has extensive experience in the animal health sector, currently serving as the Business Development Manager at Ohly since August 2022. Prior to this role, Gerstenkorn was a Product Manager, where responsibilities included managing and expanding product lines related to phytogenic feed additives and direct fed microbials, as well as translating industry demands into practical business solutions.
