The intensive animal production industry has set new standards regarding the animal growth and feed consumption. Diets are composed extremely rich in nutrients, including energy, which significantly contributes to the overall growth efficiency of the animal. It is important to note that fats and oils may represent more than 25% of this energy.

The digestive tract is an aqueous environment and fats and oils are lipophilic substances that need to be emulsified before being digested. Fat digestion is a real challenge in young animals, such as broilers and young turkeys, as they do not produce sufficient bile acids for an efficient emulsification.

High inclusions of fat in intensive animal production will gradually lower the digestibility because of lack of emulsification in the aqueous environment of the gastro intestinal tract.

Absorption is a critical step, since only absorbed nutrients can be transported throughout the body and trigger the growth and performance of the animal.

The challenge is how to make animals able to digest all these fats.

Framelco has developed FRA® LeciMax Dry, containing a natural source of hydrolyzed lecithins ,acting as a bio-surfactant. The hydrolyzed lecithins assist the bile phospholipids to emulsify dietary fats and to form highly dispersible micelles. Lyso-lecithins, and more particularly the lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) in FRA® LeciMax, interfere with cell membranes, increasing their fluidity and, consequently, their permeability, which enhances nutrient absorption and maximizes fat digestion.