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24 Mar 2022

Azolla as a feed alternative in livestock, poultry and fish nutrition

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Azolla as a sustainable feed alternative for livestock, poultry, and fish nutrition

Azolla is a small water fern that floats freely with a global distribution. It can be used as a raw material thanks to its high content of proteins, fatty acids, amino acids and vitamins. The most common species used for animal feed is Azolla pinnata.

azolla

Low economic productivity in some countries due to rising import costs still persists and will continue to do so if the same protein sources like corn and soybeans are still depended on.

The following study mentioned within this article reviews the use of azolla as a promising feed ingredient in livestock, poultry and fish nutrition.

Protein content of different azolla species ranges between 21 to 26% DM. While fatty acids range from 41 to 66% DM.

It is important to know that it is rich in several classes of active compounds, such as phenolic content, caffeoylquinic acid derivatives, tannins and carotene.

It has been shown to improve animal growth rate, depending on its inclusion percentage within animal diets.

Azolla is an alternative resource to meet current demands in the livestock, poultry and fish nutrition industries. Where improved breeding and mass production of this feed supply are the first steps towards covering this growing demand in a sustainable manner.

Therefore, this feedstuff requires continuous mass production, and large-scale cultivation which are stil not very common.

azolla

This fern has been traditionally used for animal feed in Vietnam (1979) and in China (1980.) Currently it is widely used in many other countries.

azolla

Several studies show that azolla has a good influence on growth performance depending on the concentration in which it is used. It has different forms such as: fresh, dried in the sun, powdered and in the form of granules. Recommended inclusion levels of azolla in animal diets are less than 15% in poultry, 5% in broilers and less than 25% in fish. A variety of other parameters, including animal species and azolla concentration, seem to have an influence on efficiency.

Overall, depending on the inclusion proportion in which it is used, azolla presents itself as a promising alternative within animal feed ingredients that can contribute to healthy food systems and the environment.

Source: ELSEVIER. Sustainable alternative animal feeds: Recent advances and future perspective of using azolla as animal feed in livestock, poultry and fish nutrition.