Interview with Tommy van Limbergen (Anitom) in ASAJA Magazine

First of all, what is your role in the NeoGiANT project?

• Anitom is leading work package 4, which means that we are responsible for the coordination of the in vivo feed trials. This involves both the development of feed products and the steering of animal trials in four types of animals. Trials with pigs, calves, and several fish species are performed at partner institutions in the Czech Republic, Scotland, Portugal, and Spain. The broiler trials are conducted at our facilities in Belgium.

  We also play smaller roles in other work packages, such as providing samples to partners for additional analyses. Furthermore, we also contribute to the dissemination of results.

Name the main problems with the current feed options for farmed animals. 

• Since the European ban on the use of antimicrobial growth promoters in animal feed came into force on January 1, 2006 (Regulation 1831/2003/EC) an increased use of antibiotics was noticed. Livestock production kept evolving to higher performances and it has made gut health syndromes, enteric diseases, and associated performance losses much more common. In recent years antimicrobial usage (AMU) in livestock has been linked to antimicrobial resistance in both human and veterinary medicine, leading to EU- and national legislation to reduce AMU in livestock. This has challenged producers and veterinarians to find solutions for maintaining production levels without the use of antibiotics as prophylactic treatment or growth promotor.

And, specifically, about the poultry sector?

• The impressive genetic improvement of poultry growth rate during the last decades has led to a modern bird with a very low feed conversion, high average daily gain, and low mortality. This rapid growth and the corresponding feed conversion ratios put enormous pressure on the physiology of the digestive system of the birds even from the very first day of life onwards. All factors that negatively impact digestion and absorption of nutrients may enhance the development of enteric disease in broilers and lead to lower performance, less efficient poultry production, and a higher carbon footprint. Excess nutrients which are not digested and absorbed in the small intestine may also trigger dysbiosis, i.e. a shift in the microbiota composition in the intestinal tract. 

• Dysbiosis as well as other stressors elicit an inflammatory response and loss of integrity of the tight junctions between the epithelial cells, leading to gut leakage. This makes it easier for toxins, feed antigens, bacteria, and bacterial by-products to cross this barrier and spread systemically in the bird. This bacterial dissemination can also be a cause of osteoarticular disease that adds to the great pressure already put upon the skeletal system by the elevated body weight gain of broilers. As a result, enterically-induced lameness in broiler chickens is also a significant animal welfare problem, with an elevated prevalence amongst productive flocks.

What is the enterical disease?

• A large variety of factors has been identified to have a multifactorial impact on broiler’s digestive health. Among influencing infectious factors, coccidiosis is considered to be the most important one, as any infection of coccidia requires an invasion and finally destruction of the host cells to fulfill the reproduction cycle of the parasite. Very often coccidiosis infection is directly linked with digestive problems such as bacterial enteritis (dysbalance of bacterial microflora) or even necrotic enteritis in case of the presence of Clostridium perfringens. In Belgium, coccidiostats are routinely added to poultry feed, however, in some countries, the use of ionophore coccidiostats was also banned. Apart from infectious risk factors also a large variety of feed-, management- and housing-related risk factors can have a direct or indirect impact on enteric health and can cause enteric disease. A nice example is an enteric disease induced by small intestinal bacterial overgrowth due to inappropriate lighting schedules.  

How is the NeoGiANT project going to contribute to the solution of these problems?

• The feed additives made from white grape marc developed by the Neogiant project can be used as a gut-health promotor. We are investigating the prophylactic and curative properties of polyphenols present in the grape marc. The antimicrobial and antioxidative effects can stimulate gut health and make the animal more resistant to nutritional and environmental stressors. In this way, the use of conventional antibiotics can be prevented.

What are antioxidant and eubiotic properties and how do you think NeoGiANT can contribute to them?

• Eubiotics are innovative feed additives that support gut health by increasing the presence of beneficial gastrointestinal microbiota, maximizing nutrient absorption, and promoting efficient gut performance. Antioxidants scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), mitigating intestinal oxidative stress. This supports the proper functioning of the gut or even the whole body, reducing the risk of inflammation and dysbiosis. Neogiant aims to develop novel natural antimicrobial products based on natural extracts derived from agri-food byproducts as raw materials. To get the extract from white grape marc an advanced isolation technique is used. The properties (antimicrobial, antioxidative) of the active substance, namely polyphenols, are already investigated and described. However, as it is a rather new field of research, a lot is still to be discovered. We are hopeful to see these beneficial effects during our animal feed trials as well.

How do you think farmers will benefit from the NeoGiANT potential final products?

• Pressure on the use of antimicrobials has forced researchers to find alternative solutions to develop and maintain a healthy digestive system in farmed animals. Different natural and nontoxic alternatives for antibiotics, such as prebiotics, probiotics, phytotherapeutics (botanical products – herbs and etheric oils), organic acids, and enzymes have been investigated for their improvement of intestinal health and animal performance in general. NeoGiANT offers an innovative solution based on the known potent natural antimicrobial and -antioxidant activities of grape marc extracts, due to their arsenal of available phytochemicals. With the first feed trials going on, we are on our way to define appropriate dosages and describe the effects. Hopefully, at the end of the Neogiant project, we can deliver a cost-effective, efficient, and sustainable alternative to conventional antibiotics!