Nutriad poultry additive utilises QS technology

Belgian animal feed additive manufacturer, Nutriad, has launched a new addition to its Apex line: Apex 5.

A fundamental additional key quality is to disrupt the communication between harmful bacteria thereby reducing the potential harmful effects of the bacteria, improving the intestinal health and increasing poultry performance more efficiently.

Apex originally contains a specific mix of botanical components with antibacterial properties that have the ability to improve the performance of poultry. Nutriad has discovered how to select new active working botanical components for Apex, using the Quorum Sensing (QS) Technology in collaboration with the University of Ghent, Belgium.

QS is a form of molecular communication used by bacterial populations to coordinate their biochemical activity, such as the production of virulence factors. Some botanical components disrupt the molecular communication between bacteria more than others.

Fluorescent bacteria

Nutriad relies on the Quorum Sensing (QS) Technology of the University of Ghent. This technology measures the communication between bacteria. The University monitors bacteria that produce a fluorescent signal during QS signalling. Different components are administered to the bacteria. A decrease in fluorescence then indicates the (potentially pathogenic) communication between the bacteria is disrupted.

After screening several phytochemicals, Nutriad has identified the optimal composition of the new Apex product: in these in vitro assays, Apex 5 was able to shut down QS signaling almost completely (> 99%) at concentrations far below the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration. In addition, field trials show that the broilers in poultry farms are more vital and grow better.