article · Journal of Functional Foods
Chitosan and chitosan-based composites are attracting growing interest as feed additives within animal farming. These materials offer multiple functions in animal nutrition, specifically influencing gastrointestinal performance and serving as delivery vehicles. Supplementing animal diets with chitosan or its derivatives enhances growth performance, overall productivity, and nutrient digestibility. It also boosts antioxidant capacity, supports gut health, and strengthens immune defences. Beyond direct dietary benefits, chitosan-based composites can encapsulate bioactive compounds to deliver nutrients, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines effectively. This encapsulation approach upgrades the nutritional standard of animal feeds while protecting overall livestock health. A clearer grasp of how these compounds function in the gut, along with addressing practical application challenges, will support their adoption and guide ongoing research in animal production.
Livestock producers continuously seek safe, effective feed additives to enhance animal health and productivity. Chitosan and its composites offer a dual benefit by directly boosting digestion and immunity while functioning as protective carriers for essential nutrients and veterinary medicines. Understanding these mechanisms helps develop better animal nutrition strategies that support sustainable livestock rearing.
Animal feed manufacturers and veterinary medicine developers could use chitosan composites to formulate enriched feed additives and delivery systems for nutrients, vaccines, and drugs. Because this overview synthesises existing research rather than testing a specific formulation, the apparent distance from use is at an early to applied research stage, requiring further development to resolve practical delivery challenges in commercial livestock production.
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Chitosan and chitosan-based composites are increasingly gaining attention as feed additives in animal production. However, few studies have summarized their multifunctional roles and applications in animals. This review presents an extensive overview of chitosan and chitosan-based composites in animal nutrition, with emphasis on their roles in gastrointestinal function and substance delivery. It is surmised that the supplementation of chitosan and its derivatives to animals improves the growth performance, productivity, nutrient digestibility, antioxidant capacity, gut health, immunity, and health status of animals. Additionally, the encapsulation of chitosan-based composites as bioactive agents for nutrient, drug, and vaccine delivery enhances the nutritional qualities of animal feeds and boosts animal health. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the potentials of chitosan and chitosan-based composites as feed additives, their actions on gastrointestinal health and bio-delivery, and the challenges underlying their applications would promote their effective and efficient utilization for animal production and foster research progress in this field.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2023.105520
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