In 2022, Lallemand Animal Nutrition launched Yela Prosecure, a specifically designed hydrolyzed yeast. The company is now unveiling recent research that confirms that this feed ingredient offers great potential as a functional protein source thanks to its superior kinetics of protein digestibility when compared to other protein sources.

Yela Prosecure’s kinetics of protein absorption has been analyzed with the Boisen method (Fig. 1). Yela Prosecure’s protein digestibility starts at 77% at the beginning of the intestinal phase (right after the stomach) and increases to 94% after 48 hours. Moreover, Yela Prosecure is close to its maximum in vitro digestibility after three hours of intestinal digestion. This means that 90.5% of the protein content of Yela Prosecure has flash and fast digestibility kinetics. The proteins from Yela Prosecure are, therefore, highly bioavailable for animals.

Figure 1. Yela Prosecure: kinetics of protein digestibility (Lallemand Animal Nutrition, Internal data, 2022)

Based on the same method, eight feed materials were assessed for protein digestibility and kinetics of absorption: whole-cell inactivated yeast, and the hydrolyzed yeast Yela Prosecure (Fig. 2). When compared to these feed materials, Yela Prosecure shows interesting kinetics of protein digestibility. One direct result of that is a negligible amount of non-digested protein reaching the lower gut.

Figure 2. Kinetics of protein digestibility of various protein sources (Lallemand Animal Nutrition, Internal data, 2022)

These properties are linked to the well-controlled hydrolysis process involved in the production of Yela Prosecure, which makes the yeast protein highly available and quickly absorbed. This is of particular interest for young animals and during stressful periods, at a time when nutritionists are looking for highly digestible protein sources with flash and fast kinetics of protein absorption, which supply free primary and secondary amino acids.