Since the European ban on use of in-feed antibiotic growth promoters, the search for alternatives is a global priority. Organic acids or simply acidifiers play an important role in gut health and offer nutritional benefits to the animal.A recent study (2020) published in the Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition gives an overview of key benefits of acidifiers in the pig and poultry sectors. What we have long known is that organic acids have been used for decades in feed preservation, preventing feed and feed raw materials from microbial and fungal deterioration, or improving the shelf life of fermented feed such as silages, liquid feeds and liquid by-products. But what we now see often is the use of organic acids as potential feed additives to replace antibiotic growth promoters, along with other alternatives such as probiotics, prebiotics, phytochemicals, and enzymes. The main benefits of acidifiers come through their ability to reduce pH, offering high feed buffering capacity, while their antimicrobial effect helps prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria (e.g. Salmonella spp. and E. col!}, yeasts and moulds.
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