META-ANALYSIS AS PRODUCTIVITY ENHANCER: EXCENTIAL ENERGY PLUS VS OTHER EMULSIFIERS
Nutritional emulsifiers can be based on several types of active ingredients, with all different areas of specialty. Measuring the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value of emulsifiers is an interesting way to classify the products and to find out whether they are lipophilic (for a mix of water in oil) or hydrophilic (for a mix of oil in water). Lipophilic emulsifiers with a low HLB value, such as phospholipids, are commonly known as technical emulsifiers that improve the feed production process.
On the other hand, hydrophilic emulsifiers with a high HLB value, such as the specific GPGR used in Excential Energy Plus, are nutritional emulsifiers improving the emulsification in the watery environment of the gastro-intestinal tract. This clearly explains the need to differentiate the types of emulsifiers in vivo.
A second meta-analysis has been conducted to differentiate emulsifiers with variating HLB values. For that purpose, a second systematic review of scientific and commercial trials with Excential Energy Plus has been carried out, selecting specific studies answering the following criteria:
• Performed in broilers;
• Includes detailed information on the feed formulation and nutrient analysis;
• Assess the effect of Excential Energy Plus as productivity enhancer (top-dressing);
• Includes a control with a basal diet, supplemented with another commercial available emulsifier, and iso-caloric with the treatment diet;
• Contains data on the growth performance, feed intake and feed efficiency of the birds;
• Performed before the end of 2023. (Table 2)
The same performance parameters as in the previous meta-analysis, for both treatments, were compiled. Statistical analysis was performed as in the first meta-analysis. Afterwards, the percentage of change when comparing the data in the Excential Energy Plus group with the other emulsifier group was calculated similarly to the first analysis. After studying the effect of each trial, the percentages of change were averaged and plotted per treatment and for each performance parameter. To conclude, applying 350 ppm of Excential Energy Plus is expected to numerically improve growth performance by 1.7%, feed efficiency by 2.8% and production efficiency by 2.5%, compared to the use of other types of commercially available emulsifiers at higher dosages.