Potential of Biotechnology for Livestock Feed Improvement: A review

Abstract

Application of recent advancements of biotechnology in recent years allowed the use of non-toxic fungi to improve  fibrous  feeds  like  straw  or  poor  quality  roughages.  In  particular,  the  white  rot  fungi  have  been  used because  of  their  ability  to  digest  in  to  usable  product  of  the  plant  material.  In  addition,  wide  variety  of  feed additives,  many  of  biotechnological  origin  are  known  to  modify  rumen  fermentation  in  ruminant  animals.  They include   components   that   can   reduce   methanogenesis,   enhance   propionic   acid   production,   reduce   protein degradation,  improve  microbial  protein  synthesis  and  inhibit  protozoa.  Among  such  additives  are  antibiotics, probiotics  and  specific  substrates  like  pre-biotics.  Moreover,  due  to  advances  in  biotechnology,  more  effective enzyme   preparations   can   now   be   produced   in   large   quantities   and   relatively   inexpensively.   Therefore, supplementation  of  the  diet  as  a  means  of  improving  nutritive  value  is  becoming  routine.  Still  another  area  of application  of  biotechnology  is  reduction  of  less  important  microbes  from  rumen  and  increase  feed  efficiency  of animals. The ultimate goal of using biotechnology in animal nutrition is to improve the plane of nutrition through the use of enzymes to improve the availability of nutrients from feed and to reduce the wastage of the feed.