The world´s poultry nutrition elite gathered in Rimini, Italy, at the 23rd European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition June 21-24 to admire the latest innovations and new frontiers in the poultry sector. The ESPN forum influences and facilitates global information exchange in poultry nutrition, and this year was organized by the Italian branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association.

Rimini is a popular European tourist destination due to its historical buildings and ancient Roman architecture dating back 268 B.C., and has recently emerged as an important congressional destination. In this historical yet modern setting, BioZyme team members took the opportunity to present the latest findings on AO-Biotics EQE, the first-and-only Aspergillus oryzae-derived postbiotic developed specifically for layers. Built on 70 years of Aspergillus oryzae (AO) fermentation expertise, BioZyme’s postbiotics are made by a unique process that breaks down nonliving components of AO into metabolites to target specific problems affecting animal health, welfare and/or productivity. This innovative approach uses AO as a biofactory to create biotics that leverage animal resilience to face a specific challenge, like improving egg production.

BioZyme regional business and innovation managers Dr. César Ocasio-Vega and Dr. Fernando Bargo investigated the impact of dietary supplementation with AO-Biotics EQE on productive performance of laying hens under commercial conditions. Discover what they shared about their findings at the symposium below.

Q: Dr. Ocasio-Vega, great to see you here in Rimini where you have been presenting the latest results of AO-Biotics EQE to poultry specialists from all over the world. Would you please tell us more about the background and the objective of the study you presented?

Ocasio-Vega:  Currently, consumers' expectations for eggs have changed a lot, and the expectations for healthier and more high-quality eggs being produced in compliance with animal welfare and sustainability practices are increasing. Previous research by De Juan et al. (2021 and 2022) reported the use of an Aspergillus oryzae-derived postbiotic improved the productivity and eggshell quality in laying hens. Therefore, with the validation studies we have conducted and are presenting here, we intended to assess the influence of supplementing laying hens’ diets with AO-Biotics EQE on hen performance, egg quality and productive lifespan under commercial conditions.

Q: Please summarize how AO-Biotics EQE affects the performance of laying hens.

Ocasio-Vega: We have data from 230,000 laying hens confirming the inclusion of EQE in the nutritional program of different operations improved hen performance, egg quality and the productive life span of the flocks. Dietary supplementation with EQE resulted in 2% more egg mass (51.4g vs 52.4 g for the commercial diet and the EQE group, respectively), in 3% higher egg production (83.2% vs 85.6% for the commercial diet and the EQE group, respectively), and 3% more sellable egg (2.09 vs 2.15 million eggs sold for the commercial diet and the EQE group, respectively). In addition, feeding EQE reduced the mortality of the flock by 27% (7.32% vs 5.32% for the commercial diet and the EQE group, respectively).

Q: Dr. Bargo, you are currently promoting AO-Biotics products in the Chinese market. You have been instrumental in the execution of the trials. Can you tell us where these trials were executed, and which age ranges were tested?

Bargo: In these trials, we tested 230,000 hens in two trials in Italy and two trials in Mexico, both under commercial conditions. A minimum of two groups or barns on each field trial and enriched cages were used. Concerning the hens, the breeds were either HyLine in Italy or HyLine/Bovans in Mexico. In Italy, the production cycle weeks of the hens involved 24-41 weeks of age and 42-60 weeks of age, and in Mexico they were between 14-45 weeks of age and 15-51 weeks of age. In these validations we observed improving the flock’s survivability improves the productive life of laying hens because this is related to having more animals under production throughout the entire production cycle.

Q: What dosage have you tested and what is your recommendation?

Bargo: EQE groups were fed the same commercial basal diets as the control groups but were supplemented with 50 grams of EQE per metric ton of feed. Feeding this 50 gramshas shown positive effects on the productive life span of the hens, the egg mass, the eggshell quality and the number of sellable eggs.

Q: Dr. Ocasio-Vega, would you mind reiterating for our readers how you define a postbiotic and what makes AO-Biotics EQE so special?

Ocasio-Vega: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics defines postbiotics as a "preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confer a health benefit on the host."

AO-Biotics EQE, the first postbiotic of its kind, was developed using BioZyme’s proprietary strain of Aspergillus oryzae, a fungus used to specially ferment biotics tailored to address specific challenges. Produced using patent-pending technology, EQE was developed to target the challenges in the laying industry to help producers achieve more sellable eggs, an improved egg mass, and an increased productive lifespan of the laying hens.

AO-Biotics is a line of fermentation products derived from BioZyme's innovative fermentation of Aspergillus oryzae (AO) to promote resilience. Learn more at AOBiotics.com.

Contact Volker Altenbokum at [email protected], or Alan Lee at [email protected] for more information.