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. 2023 Dec 11;20(1):5.
doi: 10.1007/s11306-023-02068-w.

Discrimination of different feed additives and poly-herbal formulations based on their untargeted phytochemical profiles

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Discrimination of different feed additives and poly-herbal formulations based on their untargeted phytochemical profiles

Gabriele Rocchetti et al. Metabolomics. .

Abstract

Introduction: Feed additives represents a valid tool in animal nutrition to improve animal performance and livestock productivity under a sustainable perspective; however, there is a paucity of information about their comprehensive metabolomic and bioactive profiles.

Objective: In this study, we tested the ability of an untargeted metabolomics approach to discriminate nine commercial feed additives and unique blends of botanical extracts used in both ruminant and non-ruminant nutrition, according to their phytochemical profiles and different in vitro bioactive properties.

Methods: An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with Orbitrap mass spectrometry and multivariate statistics were combined to search for potential markers, in order to better discriminate the different commercial samples.

Results: Several phytochemicals were identified, namely alkaloids, phenolics, organosulfurs, and terpenoids. The polyherbal formulation Zigbir was the best source of phytochemicals, accounting for a cumulative total content of phytochemicals equal to 3.03 mg Eq./g, being particularly abundant in terpenoids, stilbenes, phenolic acids, and small-molecular-weight phenolics. Multivariate statistics allowed to group the different products in 2 bioactive subclusters. The diterpenoid andrographolide recorded the highest abundance in Zigbir and Sangrovit. The most predictive biomarkers were: piperine, isoquercitrin, 6-methylthiohexyldesulfoglucosinolate, 6-methylumbelliferone, benzoic acid, (+)-(1R,2R)-1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diol, and piperitenone. Flavonoids were highly correlated with both in vitro antioxidant and enzyme inhibition assays.

Conclusions: Our findings provide new insights into the comprehensive phytochemical composition of commercial feed additives and blend of botanical extracts used for both ruminant and non-ruminant nutrition. A great importance of polyphenols in relation to the biological activities was detected.

Keywords: Alkaloids; Animal nutrition; Poly-herbal formulations; Polyphenols; Terpenoids; Untargeted UHPLC-HRMS.

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