Emulsifier for better fat digestibility in poultry.
Emulsifiers are used in poultry nutrition for improving poultry performance, digestibility of the nutrients, especially fat. Fats and oils are important part of feed formulation due to their high energy value.
Bile is natural emulsifier produced by body but in poultry at early stage of bird, the amount of bile secreted is insignificant considering high amount of fat/oil add into feed.
An emulsifier is a surface-active agent that acts as a border between two immiscible liquids such as oil and water, allowing them to be blended into stable emulsions. Big globules of fat are broken down to tiny droplets which are mixed in water. Digestibility of fat is improved with addition of emulsifier.
Emulsifier create two types of emulsions: either oil dispersed in water or water dispersed in oil. Selection of emulsifiers is done on the basis of the kind of emulsion we are making. Due to the fact that birds intestine has watery environment so we need an emulsifier more suitable for oil in water emulsion.
An emulsifier is a molecule in which one end likes to be in an oily environment and the other in a water environment. To make an oil-in-water emulsion, as needed in poultry nutrition, droplets of oil molecules are surrounded by the oil-loving end of the emulsifier molecules. This leaves the water-loving ends on the outside of the droplet, and so they sit happily in water, giving a homogeneous liquid rather than an poorly digestible mixture of water and oily droplets.
A parameter to choose the optimal emulsifier for every specific application is HLB (hydrophilic-lipophylic balance). An emulsifier with a low HLB is more fat soluble (lipophilic) and an emulsifier with a high HLB is more water soluble (hydrophilic). As our intention in case of poultry is to make oil in water emulsion so emulsifier with higher HLB value is preferable.
Phospholipids are used in Poultry nutrition as emulsifier. Hydrolyzed or modified phospholipids give better emulsification. Beside emulsification lysophospholipids also improve absorption of nutrients.
