Betaine is often mistaken for vitamins. In fact, it is neither a vitamin nor even a nutrient necessary for the body. However, under certain conditions, adding betaine to feed formulations can bring considerable benefits.
Betaine is a natural compound and most organisms contain betaine. Wheat and beets are two common plants that contain high concentrations of betaine. Pure betaine is considered safe when used within acceptable limits. Since betaine has certain functional properties and can become an essential nutrient (or additive) under certain conditions, the addition of betaine to pigs and poultry diets is increasing. However, for best results, it is important to know how much betaine is best.
Pure betaine is generally extracted from sugar beet syrup. Although the betaine content in sugar beets is much less than wheat (about 80% lower), the extraction of betaine from sugar beet syrup is easier, and the steps include chromatography, separation and crystallization. Betaine can also be extracted from a by-product of distillers grains - sugar beet production of ethanol, but is rarely used in actual production. Commercial forms of betaine include anhydrous betaine, betaine monohydrate, betaine hydrochloride (25% hydrochloride), and betaine phosphate. Assuming the pure betaine concentration of an anhydrous product, none of the above forms shows a significant benefit over other forms.
1 Betaine
There are many types of betaine, all have the characteristic of zwitterion, that is, different atoms have positive and negative charges, but the overall compound is neutral. The first such compound was discovered in sugar beet in the 19th century (hence the name betaine) and its correct chemical name is trimethylglycine, also known as glycine betaine. In animal nutrition, other betaines have not been systematically studied. Therefore, this article discusses betaine extracted from sugar beet.
Since betaine is a methyl derivative of glycine, it contains three chemically active methyl groups (CH3). This property gives betaine one of its two biological functions, namely as a methyl donor. The second role of betaine is as a natural organic osmoregulatory substance that participates in the regulation of water infiltration and maintains the water balance of the biofilm.
2 Betaine in organisms
In most cases, animals can synthesize betaine to meet the needs of their body. The method of betaine synthesis is the well-known oxidation of vitamin choline. It has been demonstrated that adding pure betaine to feed can save expensive choline. As a methyl donor, betaine can also replace the expensive methionine. Therefore, the addition of betaine to feeds can reduce the need for methionine and choline. Of course, the assumption is that the cost of using betaine under commercial conditions can produce savings and make it practical.
Betaine can also be used as an anti-fatty liver agent. In some studies, only 0.125% of betaine was added to the feed, and the body fat deposition of pigs was reduced by 15%. Finally, betaine has been shown to increase the digestibility of nutrients because it provides infiltration protection for the gut bacteria and makes the gastrointestinal environment more stable. Of course, the most important role of betaine is to prevent cell dehydration, but this is often taken for granted and thus neglected.
3 Betaine prevents dehydration
In the absence of water, betaine can be consumed in excess, which is not the function of its methyl donor, but the use of betaine to regulate cell hydration. In the state of heat stress, the reaction of the cells is the aggregation of inorganic ions such as organic penetrants such as sodium, potassium, chlorine, and betaine. In this case, betaine is the most effective compound because it does not have the negative effect of destabilizing the protein. As an osmotic regulator, betaine protects the kidney from high concentrations of electrolytes and urea, and improves the function of macrophages, regulates the water balance in the intestine, and prevents premature death of cells in the absence of water in the body. Embryo survival has a certain influence.
From a practical point of view, it has been reported that addition of betaine to feed can prevent atrophy of intestinal villi and increase the activity of proteolytic enzymes, which can promote the intestinal health of weaned piglets. Similar functions also reflect the addition of betaine to poultry feeds in poultry when they have coccidiosis, which may improve intestinal health.
4 Practical considerations
Based on experimental and empirical evidence, it can be stated that the addition of pure betaine to broiler, turkey, and duck diets can slightly increase the digestibility of nutrients, promote growth, and increase feed conversion. In addition, the addition of betaine to poultry feed may lead to decreased carcass fat and increased breast meat. Of course, the exact effect of the above functions has great variability. In addition, the relative bioavailability of betaine can be accepted as 60% compared to methionine under practical conditions. In other words, 1 kg of anhydrous betaine can replace the addition of 0.6 kg of methionine. For choline, it is estimated that betaine can substitute for about 50% of choline in broiler chicken feed, and 100% can replace choline in chow diet.
However, based on the fact that choline has other biological functions, it is more conservative to add more than 25% of choline instead of pure betaine. A comprehensive analysis of the effects of dietary betaine supplementation on pig performance and carcass characteristics (including 19 studies) showed that betaine did not significantly affect pig growth, but did significantly improve feed conversion (2% to 8%). %) as well as carcass production, while reducing the deposition of back fat (10% to 20%). In pig breeding, the substitution effect of betaine on methionine and choline has not been well documented, so its actual use value is not considered for the time being.
There is no doubt that water-starved animals can best benefit from betaine, which can be of great help. This includes: heat-stressed animals, especially summer broilers; lactating sows whose drinking water almost always fails to meet their consumption requirements; all salt-water animals. For all animal species that have been determined to benefit from betaine, it is best not to add more than 1 kg of betaine per ton of full-rate feed. If the recommended amount is exceeded, there will be a drop in efficiency as the dose increases. However, under certain conditions, the betaine addition per metric ton of feed can be increased to 2 kg over a short period of time. However, this is when extreme heat stress is present, or when young animals cannot feed enough feed and water, or when methionine and choline are extremely expensive.
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