Improving the nutritional value of microalgae for feeding pigs through the use of novel enzymes

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Effect of Dietary Laminaria digitata with Carbohydrases on Broiler Production Performance and Meat Quality, Lipid Profile, and Mineral Composition

Publication . Costa, Mónica M.; Pestana, José M.; Osório, Diogo; Alfaia, Cristina M.; Martins, Cátia F.; Mourato, Miguel; Gueifão, Sandra; Rego, Andreia M.; Coelho, Inês; Coelho, Diogo; Lemos, José P.C.; Fontes, Carlos M.G.A.; Lordelo, Madalena M.; Prates, José A. M.

Simple Summary: Seaweeds represent promising alternatives to unsustainable conventional feed sources, such as cereals, incorporated in poultry diets. Brown macroalgae (e.g., Laminaria digitata) correspond to the largest cultured algal biomass worldwide and are rich in bioactive polysaccharides, minerals, and antioxidant pigments. However, their utilization as feed ingredients is limited due to the presence of an intricate gel-forming cell wall composed of indigestible carbohydrates, mainly alginate and fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides. Therefore, supplementation with carbohydrate-active enzymes is required to disrupt the cell wall and allow seaweed nutrients to be digested and absorbed in poultry gut. The present study aimed to evaluate if the dietary inclusion of 15% L. digitata, supplemented or not with carbohydrases, could improve the nutritional value of poultry meat without impairing growth performance of broiler chickens. The results show that L. digitata increases antioxidant pigments and n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in meat, thus improving meat nutritional and health values. On the other hand, feeding algae at a high incorporation level impaired growth performance. Feed enzymatic supplementation had only residual effects, although alginate lyase decreased intestinal viscosity caused by dietary L. digitata with potential benefits for broiler digestibility.

2022-04-13Journal article

Open access

Influence of Feeding Weaned Piglets with Laminaria digitata on the Quality and Nutritional Value of Meat

Publication . Ribeiro, David; Alfaia, Cristina; Pestana, José; Carvalho, Daniela; Costa, Mónica; Martins, Cátia; Lemos, José; Mourato, Miguel; Gueifão, Sandra; Delgado, Inês; Carvalho, Patrícia; Coelho, Diogo; Coelho, Inês; Freire, João; Almeida, André; Prates, José

Laminaria digitata is a novel feedstuff that can be used in pig diets to replace conventional feedstuffs. However, its resilient cell wall can prevent the monogastric digestive system from accessing intracellular nutrients. Carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) supplementation is a putative solution for this problem, degrading the cell wall during digestion. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of 10% L. digitata feed inclusion and CAZyme supplementation on the meat quality and nutritional value of weaned piglets. Forty weaned piglets were randomly allocated to four experimental groups (n = 10): control, LA (10% L. digitata, replacing the control diet), LAR (LA + CAZyme (0.005% Rovabio® Excel AP)) and LAL (LA + CAZyme (0.01% alginate lyase)) and the trial lasted for two weeks. The diets had no effect on any zootechnical parameters measured (p > 0.05) and meat quality traits, except for the pH measured 24 h post-mortem, which was higher in LAL compared to LA (p = 0.016). Piglets fed with seaweed had a significantly lower n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio compared to control, to which the higher accumulation of C20:5n-3 (p = 0.001) and C18:4n-3 (p < 0.0001) contributed. In addition, meat of seaweed-fed piglets was enriched with bromine (Br, p < 0.001) and iodine (I, p < 0.001) and depicted a higher oxidative stability. This study demonstrates that the nutritional value of piglets’ meat could be improved by the dietary incorporation of L. digitata, regardless of CAZyme supplementation, without negatively affecting growth performance in the post-weaning stage.

2022-03-31Journal article

Open access