Bupo Rooted in Quality

ith increasing demands for food of animal origin and continued governmental bans on the use of antibiotics in animal production, researchers in agriculture and animal health must continue to develop alternative strategies to alleviate the negative effects of infectious diseases in order to maximize productive efficiency. Plant-based feed additives are a promising alternative to antibiotics, and research done by Bupo Animal Health labs has shown that they improve animal health by acting on the host and possibly the pathogen as well. In addition, part of their mode of action appears to occur within the gut. Our understanding of the role and the function of the gut in animal health is dramatically improving; whereas in the recent past, the gut was seen as the major site was digestion and absorption, today it is considered a highly sophisticated organ system that serves multiple functions including that of a lymphoid organ (Merchant, 2007).

Therefore, it is an ideal target for feed additives and feed technologies, including those using plant-based ingredients. Recent scientific evidence showed a negative effect of certain antibiotics on gut commensals (Wlodarska and Finlay, 2010), which can lead to the development of certain diseases in human. Therefore, instead of seeking alternatives of antibiotic growth promoters, our scientists are working on looking for new feed strategies to manipulate the digestive microbes to improve the health of the host. Plant extract-based feed additives, when used under optimized conditions (known concentrations with ingredients for successful delivery to gut), are effective and sustainable tools to improve animal health and consequent productive. However, more research were done to comprehend the basic mechanisms which are responsible for the interaction of plant-derived products with host innate and adaptive immunity.