Bioactive substances in animal nutrition: Functions and t
he future
Bioactive substances are found in animal feed and usually do not have
a nutritional value, but a health-promoting effect. Most bioactive substanc
es originate from the group of secondary plant metabolites. Secondary plant
metabolites perform physiological functions that are essential for the int
eraction between plants and their environment. These include defense mechan
isms (tannins, alkaloids), visual signaling between plants and animals (fla
vonoids, carotenoids) and aroma formation (terpenoids).
A large number of secondary plant metabolites interact with nutrients a
nd the gut microbiota. Thus, they synergistically or antagonistically influ
ence the absorption, retention and excretion of these nutrients. In a broad
er sense, also cell wall constituents of plants are bioactive substances, a
ffecting digestibility, functionality, morphology and fermentability in the
gastrointestinal tract.
Many secondary plant substa
nces are potentially transferred into products such as milk, eggs, meat and
fish, and as such, directly impact food quality and subsequently human hea
lth. From this perspective, the process-oriented use of secondary metabolit
es in research is becoming increasingly important. In addition to the optim
ization of nutrient utilization in the intermediate metabolism of farm anim
als and the provision of high-quality food of animal origin, a contribution
can also be made to the reduction of emissions of climate-relevant gases,
such as methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide from agricultural product
ion.
The BOKU Symposium Animal Nutrition 2022 deals
with bioactive substances in animal nutrition. The symposium is intended to
document various aspects of the subject in numerous contributions and to i
nform about the current state of scientific knowledge.
<
em>In addition, there are opportunities to present current research work in
animal nutrition – in the context of selected short lectures and pos
ters – which go beyond the scope of the general topic.