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Current intensive live stock farming has necessitated dense, highly nutritive rations. Performance is enhanced when nutrients from these denser rations are absorbed efficiently. Modified lysophospholipids help in efficient absorption of nutrients as well emulsification of dietary fats.
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in using fat as an energy source in poultry diets. Fat is an excellent energy source, with an energy value of approximately 2.25 times that of carbohydrates.
For animals to utilize fat, they have to digest and absorb it from the gastro-intestinal tract. Since fat is insoluble in water, and difficult to handle in a water medium, as in the gastrointestinal tract, water insoluble ingredients like fatty acids, fat soluble vitamins and certain amino acids rely on emulsification to become water soluble and thereby, bio-available.
Phospholipids are surface-active substance, and can therefore be used in a wide variety of ways-as an emulsifier, absorption enhancer, dispersion agent and wetting agent.
Phospholipids play an important role in nutrition as emulsifying agents and assist in the digestion of fat. They also help in fatty acid absorption by the formation of micelle structures.
A specific class of phospholipids, the lysophospholipids , are of particular interest in the absorption of nutrients as they are more hydrophilic than other phospholipids. Lysophospholipids spontaneously form micelles with bile salts, fatty acids and monoglycerides. These micelles are smaller and more stable then those formed with other phospholipids found in lecithins.
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