Bioactive feed additive for livestock
AssigneeIowa State University Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorsElizabeth Ann Kraayenbrink, Krysten Craft, Stephan Schmitz-Esser
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Abstract
The present application relates to livestock and/or companion animal feed compositions, methods of making and using the same, and in particular a feed composition comprising an alfalfa bioactive additive, wherein the alfalfa bioactive composition includes one or more of saponins, fatty acids, phytoestrogens, and polysaccharides, and wherein the feed composition is suitable for improving the health, immune function, and intestinal microbiota of animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, swine and fowl.
Claims21
An animal feed composition comprising:
- an alfalfa bioactive composition comprising one or more saponins, one or more fatty acids, one or more phytoestrogens, one or more polysaccharides, or a combination thereof;
- and a carbohydrate source.
A method of improving the growth of livestock animals comprising:
- (a) providing to a livestock animal an alfalfa bioactive composition in an amount effective to increase the body weight and/or feed efficiency of the livestock animal, wherein the alfalfa bioactive composition comprises:
- (i) one or more saponins,
- (ii) one or more fatty acids,
- (iii) one or more phytoestrogens,
- (iv) one or more polysaccharides,
- (v) or a combination thereof;
- and
- (b) exposing the livestock animal to the alfalfa bioactive composition, whereby the body weight and/or feed efficiency of the livestock animal is improved compared to livestock animals not provided with the alfalfa bioactive composition.
A method of improving immune resistance in livestock comprising:
- (a) providing to a livestock animal an alfalfa bioactive composition in an amount effective to reduce serum cytokines and/or improve adaptive and/or innate immune response, wherein the alfalfa bioactive composition comprises:
- (i) one or more saponins,
- (ii) one or more fatty acids,
- (iii) one or more phytoestrogens,
- (iv) one or more polysaccharides,
- (v) or a combination thereof;
- and
- (b) exposing the livestock animal to the alfalfa bioactive composition, wherein the concentration of serum cytokines is reduced and/or innate and/or adaptive immune cell concentration is increased.
A method of improving the intestinal microbiota of livestock comprising:
- (a) providing to a livestock animal an alfalfa bioactive composition in an amount effective to reduce a pathogen population and improve one or more beneficial microbial populations, wherein the alfalfa bioactive composition comprises:
- (i) one or more saponins,
- (ii) one or more fatty acids,
- (iii) one or more phytoestrogens,
- (iv) one or more polysaccharides,
- (v) or a combination thereof;
- and
- (b) exposing the livestock animal to the alfalfa bioactive composition, wherein the quantity of the pathogen population is reduced and/or the quantity of the one or more beneficial microbial populations are increased.
An alfalfa bioactive composition comprising:
- (i) one or more saponins;
- (ii) one or more fatty acids;
- (iii) one or more phytoestrogens;
- and/or
- (iv) one or more polysaccharides.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.