What does yucca extract do?
What Is Yucca Extract?
Yucca extract is a feed additive made from yucca through a series of special processes. The main components of yucca extract include yucca saponin, steroidal saponin, free saponin and carbohydrate complex.
What Are The Functions Of Yucca Extract?
1.Promote animal growth
Yucca extract can enhance the activity of digestive enzymes, improve the apparent digestibility and energy utilization efficiency of nutrients such as proteins, increase the number of transport proteins, and improve the absorption capacity of the small intestine. Studies have shown that yucca extract can significantly improve the ileal digestibility of crude protein, crude fat, and crude fiber in feed, thereby improving feed utilization of broilers, increasing average daily weight gain and end-of-test weight, and within a certain addition range There was a significant linear change with dose.
2.Improve reproductive performance
The functional status of the reproductive system and the levels of reproductive hormones in the body are key factors affecting animal reproductive performance. Yucca extract can affect the proliferation and apoptosis of sheep ovarian cells, and affects the development of follicles by inhibiting ovarian production and releasing steroid hormones.
3.Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory
The saponins in yucca extract have glucocorticoid-like effects in animals; resveratrol can inhibit nuclear factor KB (NF-KB), thereby inhibiting the synthesis of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and reducing inflammatory factors. The production of nitric oxide (NO), both of which can exert anti-inflammatory functions. Stress can easily cause inflammatory reactions in animal bodies or tissues. Adding yucca extract to the diet can alleviate the stress response of broiler chickens in high temperature environments and reduce inflammatory damage.
4.Improve immune and antioxidant properties
The immune capacity and antioxidant function of the animal body are closely related to the body's condition and disease damage. Antioxidant enzyme activity, free radical scavenging rate and immunoglobulin levels in serum can reflect the antioxidant function and immune ability of animals. In addition, yucca extract can also affect the expression of antioxidant enzyme-related genes (SOD, CAT, GSH-Px). The polyphenols in yucca extract have good ability to scavenge free radicals and prevent the formation of free radicals. Yucca extract can regulate humoral immunity and cellular immunity, increase spleen and thymus organ index, increase the number of lymphocytes, activate lymphocyte function, and increase serum immunoglobulin levels.
5.Regulate the environment within the gastrointestinal tract
Yucca extract can regulate the environment in the gastrointestinal tract by reducing intestinal pH, affecting intestinal morphology and gastrointestinal microbial communities. Research by ALSUBAIT and others found that adding yucca extract to the diet can reduce the pH value of sheep rumen fluid within the normal range and increase the proportion of volatile fatty acids such as valeric acid and isovaleric acid in the rumen. In addition, yucca extract can also regulate the apoptosis of intestinal mucosal cells, reduce cell death rate, protect the integrity of intestinal mucosal tissue, increase the height of small intestinal villi, and reduce the crypt depth of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. Strengthen the intestinal barrier and improve nutrient absorption efficiency.
6.Improve the breeding environment
The exhaust gas and waste generated during animal breeding can pollute the environment and affect breeding efficiency. Urease is the key enzyme for the synthesis of ammonia. The saponin component of yucca extract can effectively inhibit urease and reduce ammonia emissions in feces by about 53%. In addition, saponins can improve the structure of the intestinal microbial community, inhibit protein fermentation, reduce the concentration of ammonia nitrogen in intestinal contents, and directly combine with odor compounds such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, thereby reducing their levels.
What Is The Application Of Yucca Extract?
In the field of animal breeding, yucca extract is mainly used to improve the intestinal environment of animals, increase protein utilization, and reduce harmful gas emissions. Specific applications include:
Pet food: Yucca extract is widely used in pet food, which can reduce harmful gas emissions of pets, increase protein absorption, enhance pet disease resistance, improve digestive health, and reduce fecal odor.
Ruminant breeding: Yucca extract can regulate immunity, reduce ammonia nitrogen content in the rumen, promote protein utilization, and improve meat quality.
Aquaculture: Yucca extract helps maintain water quality, reduce ammonia nitrogen emissions, enhance body immunity, and improve meat quality.
In addition, yucca extract is also used in other fields, such as as a food additive to enhance food flavor, as a pancreatic emulsifier to improve feed decomposition and digestibility, and as a foaming agent and flavor enhancer for carbonated beverage production.