The German company Evonik recently launched a new product, ValAMINO, which contains the 5th limiting amino acid valine for animal nutrition requirements. Evonik pointed out that the addition of valine to pig and poultry feed can improve feed efficiency and promote the sustainable development of the pig industry.
Valine is an essential amino acid for protein synthesis in animals and forms many important proteins. Plant ingredients with low valine content often limit the use of other amino acids.
Klas states that "without adding sufficient levels of valine, commercial farms will not be able to achieve maximum farming profits".
Ioannis Mavromichalis, Nutrition Editor of WATTAgNet, explains the chemical process of amino acid synthesis of protein in his personal blog. Proteins in feed and lean tissue are made up of amino acids. Some amino acids cannot be synthesized by converting other amino acids, they must be obtained through feed supplementation. These are called "essential" amino acids, the first limiting amino acid for pigs is lysine and the first limiting amino acid for poultry is methionine.
The addition of valine to methionine, lysine, threonine, and tryptophan can further reduce protein levels in animal diets without affecting animal growth performance. This reduces feed costs, conserves resources for feed-producing crops, and subsequently reduces land use, greenhouse gas emissions, potential eutrophication, and acidification. The addition of valine also meets the growing world population's demand for animal protein foods.
Klas also pointed out that since humans are increasingly focusing on reducing nitrogen emissions, and farms are considered to be the main source of nitrogen emissions from soil and groundwater, the livestock industry is also increasingly focusing on reducing nitrogen emissions from aquaculture production. By reducing the nitrogen level in the diet, more than the part required for animal protein deposition can be achieved. Adding ValAMINO can reduce carbon dioxide emissions per metric ton of greenhouse gas by 405.7kg.
In addition to reducing environmental pollution, valine can also reduce feed costs. The amount of valine powder produced by Evonik is 500-2000g per metric ton of feed. Although the cost savings depend on the price of the raw material, Klas pointed out that their analysis of the average raw material price in 2014-2015 concluded that the addition of valine could save $3.33-4 and $1.67-3 per metric ton of broiler and piglet feed, respectively.
| Products | Cost savings (USD/metric ton) |
|---|---|
| Broiler Feed | 3.33-4 |
| piglet feed | 1.67-3 |
