When heat saps the energy – stabilise the metabolism
Rising ambient temperatures place strain on livestock metabolism, digestion, immune function and antioxidant defence mechanisms. At the same time, feed intake often declines, while the energy required for thermoregulation increases.
BEWI-FATRIX® Fortify combines vegetable fat, Capsicum annuum and selected botanicals to create a unique specialist solution for modern feeding concepts. Its aim is to provide targeted support for animals, particularly under heat stress, and to promote metabolic stability, feed intake and performance.
Heat stress affects the entire organism
Within the thermoneutral zone, animals can maintain a constant body temperature without expending additional energy. Once this temperature range is exceeded, the strain on metabolism, circulation and thermoregulation increases significantly.
Possible consequences include:
- reduced feed intake
- increased energy requirements for thermoregulation
- oxidative stress and inflammatory processes
- impairment of the intestinal barrier
- reduced nutrient utilisation
- reduced performance
- increased susceptibility to disease
Sensitivity to heat varies between animal species. High-yielding dairy cows may show initial signs of heat stress at temperatures as low as around 20 to 22 °C. In pigs, heat stress often occurs from 22 to 25 °C, and in broilers from around 25 to 28 °C.
Capsicum as a functional botanical matrix
Controlled quality for reproducible results
The composition of plant-based raw materials is influenced by numerous factors. These include genetic variety, growing region, climate, soil conditions, harvest time, stage of maturity, drying, processing and storage.
To achieve consistent results in practice, standardised and quality-assured raw material sources are therefore essential. To this end, BEWITAL agri works with MartinBauer, a specialist partner in the characterisation, standardisation and processing of plant-based raw materials.
The focus is on the reproducible provision of defined phytoactive profiles.
From plant to a designed functional
Capsaicinoids are sensitive to heat, oxygen and light. At the same time, their pungency can impair feed intake and may cause irritation and dust exposure during processing.
This is precisely where BEWI-FATRIX® Fortify comes in.
A special production process embeds the active components in a fat matrix and enables their targeted release in the digestive tract. This supports consistent functionality while maintaining high feed acceptance.
The technological processing:
- protects sensitive ingredients
- minimises dust formation and pungent irritants
- improves handling in the production plant
- increases feed acceptance
- enables targeted release in the digestive tract
BEWI-FATRIX® Fortify combines vegetable fat, Capsicum annuum and selected botanicals. The components complement one another across key physiological processes and support digestion, gut health, immune function and nutrient utilisation.
Results from science and practice
The positive effects of capsaicinoids have been described in various animal species. Particularly under heat stress, studies have shown improvements in feed intake, metabolic stability and performance parameters.
In pigs, positive effects have been observed on feed intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion, antioxidant enzymes, intestinal morphology and the intestinal barrier.
In broilers, improvements in growth performance, nutrient digestibility, antioxidant capacity and immune function have been reported.
Studies in aquaculture have also shown positive effects on feed intake, digestion, immune function and gut health in various fish species.
In dairy cattle nutrition, supplementation with capsaicinoids has been shown to help reduce the negative effects of high ambient temperatures. Observed benefits included higher dry matter intake, increased milk yield and lower body temperatures.
+4,33 litres of milk
per cow per day
5-week field trial
1.5 g per animal per day
More stable feed intake
despite heat stress
Additionally:
13.36 instead of 12.26 piglets weaned per sow
Our solution: BEWI-FATRIX® Fortify
BEWI-FATRIX® Fortify combines vegetable fat, Capsicum annuum and selected botanicals to design a unique specialist solution for modern feeding concepts.
