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Author Spotlight: Exploring Seaweed's Bioactive Compounds for Sustainable Innovations in Industries
Published on: November 21, 2023
Quality Traits and Nutritional Value of Pork and Poultry Meat from Animals Fed with Seaweeds
David Miguel Ribeiro1, Cátia Falcão Martins1,2, Mónica Costa2
1LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal.
Abstract:
Seaweeds have caught the attention of the scientific community in recent years. Their production can mitigate the negative impact of anthropogenic activity and their use in animal nutrition reduces the dependency on conventional crops such as maize and soybean meal. In the context of monogastric animals, novel approaches have made it possible to optimise their use in feed, namely polysaccharide extraction, biomass fermentation, enzymatic processing, and feed supplementation with carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes). Their bioactive properties make them putative candidates as feed ingredients that enhance meat quality traits, such as lipid oxidation, shelf-life, and meat colour. Indeed, they are excellent sources of essential amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, minerals, and pigments that can be transferred to the meat of monogastric animals. However, their nutritional composition is highly variable, depending on species, harvesting region, local pollution, and harvesting season, among other factors. In this review, we assess the current use and challenges of using seaweeds in pig and poultry diets, envisaging to improve meat quality and its nutritional value.
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