CERN Animal

Natural Product Chemistry

Projektstatus

Laufend

Projektlaufzeit

01.01.2025

- 01.12.2028

Ansprechpartner

Volker Heinz

Ausgangslage

ZERN Tier is investigating a sustainable and future-oriented approach to swine production in which animal welfare aspects—including housing and living conditions—are to take precedence over the previous focus on economic efficiency. In collaboration with pig farming operations, the project is examining animal welfare, animal behavior, animal hygiene, and safety in housing systems with outdoor access and other future-oriented housing methods, while also taking into account meat and product quality as well as economic and ethical considerations.

Projektbeschreibung

In this project, the DIL is focusing on the efficient use of resources in animal husbandry. The “Natural Product Chemistry” work package is examining the extent to which byproducts from food production are suitable as animal feed and can contribute to a needs-based, species-appropriate animal diet. The ZERN Grassland process for the production of techno-functional proteins for human nutrition serves as a case study. The by-products are comprehensively characterized using analytical chemistry, including nutrients (proteins, amino acids, dietary fiber, minerals) as well as non-nutritive components such as polyphenols and chlorophyll, which can either promote or impair animal welfare. Since process optimizations can alter the composition, adjustments and the scale-up from the laboratory to the pilot plant scale are monitored analytically, and the results are fed back into process development. Finally, the suitability of the material as an animal feed ingredient is evaluated, and potential applications in existing feed formulations are identified.