February 17, 2010
Encapsulated lysozyme can replace antibiotics in poultry feed
Canada-based EnWave Corporation has completed a poultry feed trial with Neova Technologies, discovering that encapsulated lysozyme is a competent replacement for antibiotics in poultry feed.
Neova Technologies of Abbotsford, British Colombia, is a division of Bioseutica, a specialty organic pharmaceutical group that develops and markets healthcare products.
The study used EnWave's Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) dehydration technology to dry encapsulated lysozyme, a natural antimicrobial enzyme, to determine whether it can be used as a replacement for antibiotics in chicken feed.
The trials showed that the dried, encapsulated enzyme permitted the same level of infection resistance as is normally obtained with pharmaceutical antibiotics.
Countries worldwide have been looking for methods to eliminate the routine usage of antibiotics in animal feed in order to reduce the perceived risk of anti-microbial resistance in human and animal populations.
Researchers first encapsulated samples of Bioseutica's Entegard by suspending the enzyme formulation in a stabilizing hydrocolloid gel, and then dehydrated the mixture in a modified version of EnWave's nutraREV food dehydration technology.
The resulting powder was then incorporated into chicken feed and fed to chickens to test their response to clostridial necrotic enteritis, a common poultry disease. The encapsulated Entegard medication gave protection equal to the antibiotic medication that is the common industry solution to this problem in North America.
Bioseutica's proprietary Entegard is a purified preparation of lysozyme, a natural anti-microbial enzyme extracted from chicken egg white.
Several mammals, including humans, produce lysozyme in saliva, milk and tears, where it plays an important role in the immune system, protecting against infection. This makes it a safe and natural antimicrobial for both food and pharmaceutical applications, where it has been successfully used for almost 30 years.
