January 5, 2011

 

Soufflet Group extends Avimalt use to ruminants and corn-soy rations

 

The Soufflet Group and its subsidiary Lyven have announced an extension in the use of Avimalt ^® feed ingredient to ruminants as well as to other types of ration (corn-soy).

 

Launched in 2006 and initially intended for poultry fed on wheat-soy rations, Avimalt ^® has been the subject of numerous animal feed trials, at various scales and on a number of species, on several of the world's continents. The most recently conducted trials, which look to be highly conclusive, confirmed the advantages of Avimalt ^® in animal feed for ruminants, and open up a highly promising future for the product, which is now meeting increasing commercial success.

 

Avimalt ^® is made from malted wheat and wheat bran naturally fermented by a micro-organism of the Aspergillus Niger family (non GM).

 

Just like Avimalt ^®, the Avimalt ^® Plus ingredient, a more concentrated formula developed in 2009, comes in the form of meal which is easily incorporated into animal feed. Due to their complementary feedingstuff status, both of these products can now be used for all species, both within the European Union and beyond.

 

The Soufflet Group, which gained the backing of Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council and of the FEDER European funds to develop its range of innovative products, regularly shares the results obtained with its feed distributor and manufacturer customers.

 

For broiler chickens fed on corn-soy rations, an industrial trial conducted by a customer in Taiwan early in 2009 on 64,700 broilers showed over 36 days an improvement in the feed consumption ratio (FCR) of 2% compared to the control. In South Africa, another trial on the same type of ration showed an improvement of over 5% in the FCR and a 2% improvement in mean daily weight gain. A station trial conducted at France's INRA (national agricultural research institute) in summer 2010 lastly showed a 3% improvement in the FCR.

For beef cattle, an on-farm trial conducted in Alsace on young Charolais bulls demonstrated an increase in mean net daily gain of +10% compared to a negative control. An ambitious programme of trials in ruminants is under way with the first results becoming available in the course of 2011.
 

The results have naturally had the effect of even further encouraging customers to look to the Avimalt ^® range, which is now being used in Europe, South America and Southeast Asia, and is currently being investigated in several trials in Canada, Japan and South Africa. A national distribution network is now being set up.

 

The recommended rate of incorporation in monogastrics is 500g/tonne for wheat-soy rations, and 1kg/tonne for corn-soy rations.

 

Avimalt ^® is produced by solid state fermentation at a Soufflet Group malt plant at Arcis-sur-Aube in France's Champagne-Ardenne region. The production site has been GMP + B2 certified since May 2009, and the fermented malted wheat and wheat bran are themselves registered on the PDV positive list.

 

The Avimalt ^® range results from combining the expertise of the Soufflet Group, an international player specialising in the collection and first conversion of cereals, and its Lyven subsidiary, one of the world specialists in solid state fermentation.

 

The Soufflet Group, which wants to develop a new biotechnology sector centred on solid state fermentation and its applications, has initiated a EUR77 million (US$102 million) research programme, entitled Osiris, running over nine years (2008-2017) that is supported by the French OSEO agency. The programme extends from the selection of micro-organisms through to the main applications which are ethanol, animal feed, nutrition-health and bio-protection of plants, and it will also include an investigation of fermentation processes. The interest and originality of Osiris is that it covers in parallel crops to finished products, biochemistry and for example animal performance trials.
 

In animal feed, the goal is thus to develop a range of functional raw materials that enable better added value from other raw materials such as by-products from biofuels.

 

The Avimalt ^® range, whose development is going to be continuing on new species, can be considered as the precursor of the Osiris programme.