Research: Biological action of Betaine HCl and betaine anhydrous the same

Betaine is a functional nutrient commonly used as a feed additive in animal nutrition due its methyl donor and osmolyte (“zwitterion”) properties.

In the past betaine was only obtainable as betaine anhydrous extracted from sugar beets; nowadays betaine is produced by different methods and available in different chemical forms, like betaine HCl.

Orffa markets betaine HCl worldwide under the brand name BetaKey.

Orffa has initiated state of the art research in order to evaluate the biological equivalences of different betaine sources.

After gastric passage molecules remained identical, showing that irrespective of the ionic form and production method different sources of betaine gave the same analytical results and therefore no difference in biological activity are expected.

Further, in vivo research confirmed our in vitro findings. Betaine hydrochloride is also effective as osmoregulator to overcome heat stress in broiler chickens.

These results were presented during the 24th World’s Poultry Congress. This conference took place from August 5 to 9 in Bahia, Brazil.