April 22, 2016
Vland Biotech Group: Expanding its enzyme research capabilities
Today most feed enzyme companies are offering the standard fare of phytase and non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) cocktails. Beyond that, Vland will be elucidating research into a new glucose oxidase, which will not only provide better nutrition, but also better health for the animal.
by Ngai Meng CHAN
China-based Vland Biotech Group's research capability is well-recognised within the country. Vland's R&D capability is currently ranked number 41 in the whole of China among all industries, and within the enzyme industry, it holds top spot.
Not resting on its laurels, the ambitious company is actively developing new technologies in feed enzymes together with its partners in China and abroad. In 2013, KDN Biotech Group and KDN Pharma Group merged to form today's Vland Biotech Group. In the same year, the new company marked its first joint venture in Indiana, US for the R&D of enzymes and probiotics.
Apart from seeking new evidence to highlight the benefits of its products, Vland is also developing new cost-effective products for its customers.
According to the company, its feed enzyme products have proven to be cost-effective compared with some others in the market. Vland is focussed on improvements in its production technology to further reduce its product costs, and is also dedicated to working on additional cost savings for its customers through conducting in vivo trials in animals under different test conditions.
In terms of quality, the company's manufacturing facilities for enzymes have received GMP+, ISO9001:2008, Kosher and Halal certifications, providing customers the assurance that it maintains strict quality control throughout its production lines.
The end products will also be sent to third-party labs in the EU and US for final quality tests, before they are cleared to enter the world market.
Of course, in today's competitive feed enzymes industry, it is not enough to simply have a good product. Vland is increasing its focus on providing technical services to its customers, it says.
One of the their customers' biggest concern today is determining the recovery rate of feed enzymes under severe feed production processes such as high-temperature pelleting, as the enzymes hardly survive under such harsh conditions. The quantity of enzymes recovered after being subjected to severe processing conditions directly translates to the final benefits that customers can realise from using feed enzymes.
Accordingly, Vland provides training for its customers and partners on the recovery test. For example, in 2015, lab analysts from its Russian distributor visited its lab for a three-day training. The company is also planning another training programme for its customers "very soon" this year.
More generally speaking, Vland regularly provides targeted feed enzyme-related technical services to its customers, sending its sales and technical teams to meet their feed formulators to get feedback on their enzyme use, and then helping them to optimise their formulation. Most recently in March and April this year, Vland visited their customers in Vietnam and Malaysia.
As their customers in the Southeast Asia make use of various grain types and local by-products, Vland collects all these raw materials from the market to test. The company also cooperates with Schothorst Feed Research of the Netherlands to use their data on raw materials, increasing its ability to provide specific, formulated feed enzymes for its customers. So when the supply of raw materials change, Vland can quickly adjust its formulation to best meet its customer's needs.
Separately, in recent years, there has been much hype in the industry about the performance of single-enzyme versus compound-enzyme products. Feedback from Vland's customers has shown a greater preference for the latter.
This feedback is in line with a 2012 report presented at the annual meeting of the Poultry Science Association of the US, which suggested that along with the increasing structural complexity of feed ingredients, enzyme cocktails, rather than pure single enzymes, represent the next generation of feed enzymes.
That said, Vland believes that feed mills with a very strong R&D team will be more and more likely to use single enzymes, so that they can easily adjust their enzyme supplementation when feed raw materials change.
Today, China is the key market for Vland's feed enzyme business.
According to the company, while the global feed enzymes industry is dominated by big players in countries like the US, Brazil and Mexico, but within China, feed producers still prefer local enzyme products, and imported enzyme products are not selling as well as in other countries.
Vland expects to increase its market share in China, and expand into overseas markets it has yet to explore.
Within the next five years, Vland will conduct further research into a new glucose oxidase, an enzyme that breaks down glucose in feed ingredients to gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide (interestingly, glucose oxidase is also part of the company's food enzyme range).
The reaction process additionally brings various benefits to the animal's health. The process consumes oxygen in the intestinal tract, thus creating an anaerobic environment for the proliferation of anaerobic bacteria, which will inhibit E. coli, salmonella and other harmful bacteria. Consequently, this will prevent bacterial infection and improve the animal's immunity.
The reaction product gluconic acid creates an acidic environment that is good for the growth of beneficial lactobacillus bacteria.
And the other reaction product hydrogen peroxide provides a sterilisation effect, inhibiting the growth of harmful E. coli, Salmonella, Pasteurella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Vibrio bacteria.
Vland will meanwhile continue to work on improving the use of its existing feed enzyme products -- phytase (Kingphos), xylanase, mannanase (Kingzyme MAT), protease (VP300), NSpase Enzyme (Kingzyme) -- further saving costs for its customers in the coming years.
Vland with its distributor in Malaysia
