Dietary additives for livestock

Dietary additives in livestock food attempt to improve the nutrition and quality of the feed, the animal’s gut health, the cow’s immune system, and the digestibility of the food. Enzymes, prebiotics and probiotics, antioxidants, and antibiotic growth promoters are among some of the widely available dietary additives. Extensively used across the world, dietary additives for livestock might improve ruminant fiber digestion and productivity and reduce methanogenesis. These additives include dietary lipids, electron receptors, antibiotics, enzymes in the form of celluloses or hemicelluloses, probiotics (such as yeast culture), algae, propionate precursors such as fumarate or malate, condensed tannins and saponins. Some supplements could manipulate microbial populations in the rumen to reduce methane production, such as CH4 inhibitory vaccinations against methanogens or chemical defaunation to eliminate rumen protozoa. While regulations on livestock dietary additives differ across the world, additives must meet food regulation guidelines in many industrialized nations, many of which require producers to label the additives on meat packaging.