A review on the use Spirulina in livestock nutrition

Abstract

Time has changed where the livestock rearing has shifted from a traditional system to a commercial system. So, every care is to be taken to enhance the livestock productivity early. For this reason, feed additives and others like Spirulina is added in the livestock diets to make the nutrients available to the animals to the maximum and are utilized optimally. The cost of production of a litre of milk, the cost of production of a kilo of meat, the cost of production of an egg are the key factors to be considered. Spirulina (Spirulina platensis) is a good nutritional supplement and additive because of its chemical aspects with high protein content. It is blue green cyanobacterial algae containing 60-70% protein on dry matter basis. Spirulina is said to have antioxidant, neuroprotective, antitumor, anti-inflammatory properties. It’s supplementation increases the productivity and reproductive performance of animals and poultry by enhancing feed intake, feed conversion rate, nutrient utilization and absorption, and nutrient utilization and absorption, egg mass, egg component, egg quality besides fertility and hatchability rates. It alters the egg yolk colour and muscle pigmentation in a way to attract the consumers. Since it is rich in omega fatty acids and poly unsaturated fatty acids, Spirulina affects the milk fat composition in cattle. It increases the protein digestibility by increasing the microbial protein synthesis. Approximately 20% of dietary Spirulina escapes rumen degradation and becomes available at the abomasum during digestion. Increased Spirulina supplementation may result in dietary interactions, leading to decreased average daily gain (ADG) due to individual variability and nutrient saturation in small ruminants. Spirulina has high concentrations of Linoleic acid and Linolenic acid which are important for animal metabolism. Though Spirulina supplementation did not show any effect on the carcass characteristics in lambs, it affects the total blood protein content and reduces the total cholesterol in lambs. Spirulina in combination with lysine, histidine, methionine, threonine can replace soybean meal in swine rations which paves way for reducing the environmental pollution. The present review says that Spirulina supplementation can enhance the productivity of livestock if used judiciously and at higher rate of inclusion may cause detrimental effects. The objective of this review is to explore the possibilities of Spirulina supplementation in improving the productive parameters of livestock. It is concluded that many factors come in the way while using Spirulina and hence proper care needs to be taken while incorporating in the diets and it is to be noted that the results revealed on the works on Spirulina are not consistent and vary due to varies reasons as mentioned in the text.