New Lallemand studies presented at Zero Zinc Summit in Copenhagen

New Lallemand studies presented at Zero Zinc Summit in Copenhagen

For swine producers all around Europe, 2022 marks the end of medicinal zinc use and the deadline to find alternative strategies for weaning. Lallemand Animal Nutrition was proud to help support this year’s Zero Zinc Summit as a Bronze sponsor. This year’s event, which took place in Copenhagen, on June 22-23, was dedicated to ‘healthy weaning without antibiotics.’ During this unique conference, two innovative studies were presented illustrating the benefits of yeast-based feeding strategies to help manage the weaning period.

The power of yeast-based solutions

Yeast-based products are a good alternative to support piglet gut health and performance in a pharmacological zinc oxide-free context. To provide additional data, a research team from Dankook University in Korea, teamed up with Lallemand Animal Nutrition to assess the effect of a combination of yeast products supplemented in weanling piglets. The combination included: the live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079, the yeast fractions association YANG and the hydrolyzed yeast YELA PROSECURE.

The researchers measured growth performance and nutrient digestibility compared to pharmacological levels of zinc oxide (ZnO) in 200 weaned piglets.

Results clearly indicated the combination of yeast-based products exerted similar levels of benefits on piglet growth performance as well as on the digestibility of crude protein and gross energy compared to the pharmacological level of ZnO.

Functional hydrolyzed yeast

Weanling piglets are sensitive to different dietary protein sources while their digestive system is still developing. There can be a significant difference in palatability and amino acid digestibility depending on the protein source and its production process. Fish meal is a traditional protein source included in weanling piglets´ diets. However, fish production for animal nutrition is not in line with the current UN environmental sustainability targets. Hydrolyzed yeast (YELA PROSECURE) has been recently developed by Lallemand Animal Nutrition as a novel source of highly digestible and functional nutrients (free digestible amino acids and small peptides).

The trial presented, conducted in a context of ZnO-free diets, shows that YELA PROSECURE compares favorably to fish meal by stimulating post-weaning feed intake, growth performance and economical production efficiency. It showed significantly improved feed intake and growth performance as compared to fish meal. Interestingly, these effects were more important in the smaller piglets, suggesting the weaker piglets benefitted more from the functional and nutritional properties of the hydrolyzed yeast.

To know more about Lallemand Animal Nutrition’s approach to addressing reduced antimicrobial and ZnO usage in piglets, discover our specific program.

Cindy Jacobs, Technical Deployer – Swine Solutions and David Saornil, Product Manager – Swine Solutions at the Zero Zinc Summit 2022