The plant extract is a product formed by taking plants as raw materials and performing a series of physical and chemical extraction and separation processes to directionally obtain and concentrate one or more effective components in plants without changing the structure of the effective components according to the use of the terminal products. At present, there are many reports on plant extracts including alkaloids, polysaccharides, volatile oils, saponins, flavonoids, etc.
A large number of scientific experiments have proved that plant extracts have the functions of bacteriostasis, antiviral, free radical scavenging and antioxidant, which can help to promote animal growth, improve animal production performance, enhance immunity, enhance anti-stress function and improve intestinal health.
Traditional antibiotics have many problems, such as drug resistance and drug residue, which make their use more and more limited. However, plant extract additives are not easy to produce bacterial resistance and drug residues, which is expected to solve the problems of antibiotic residues, environmental pollution and food safety that have long plagued the development of animal husbandry, and provide reliable guarantee for the efficient and safe production of healthy and nutritious food in feed industry and livestock and poultry industry.
Wang Tian of Nanjing Agricultural University once put forward: "Most of the active ingredients in Chinese herbal medicines are organic, such as oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, alkaloids, polyphenols and flavonoids. They are resistant to pathogens and parasites through digestion, absorption and redistribution of animal organisms. There are no drug residues in the organism, and they can be used continuously for a long time, and they are not disabled. Green feed additive with no pollution. Zhou Guilian, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, etc. put forward that "Chinese herbal medicine additives and plant extracts have the functions of broad-spectrum antimicrobial, antiviral, regulating the balance of body functions, enhancing immune function, improving the health level of livestock and poultry, resisting stress and reconciling. Their greatest advantages are no residues, no three identities, no resistance to drugs and no rest medicines." Period."
It should be noted that natural plant extracts also have many safety problems worthy of attention, such as some plant raw materials themselves have certain toxicity to animals. Diao Qiyu, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, once put forward: "There are differences in the use of medicinal and edible homology and medicinal plants. The former or its extracts (such as Pueraria lobata, Lycium barbarum, etc.) can be used as additives for a long time, no doubt; while medicinal plants or other extracts (such as Radix Isatidis, Radix Astragali, etc.), if used as additives for a long time. Use, will have side effects, should be limited. Therefore, attention should be paid to the safety of plant extract feed additives with a serious and scientific attitude.
At present, China's plant extract industry has formed a certain scale, and the plant extract feed additives (such as silymarin extract) and related products with obvious effect, scientific mechanism and clear ingredients have gradually been widely recognized by the public. China has abundant natural plant resources and a long history of Chinese herbal medicine development, which provides sufficient conditions for the development of plant extract additives in China.
Not only at home, but also abroad pay more and more attention to plant extracts. In recent years, the United States, Japan and other developed countries have invested a lot of research funds in basic and applied research of plant extracts. Korea and Singapore have even established and invested a lot of research projects by the government.
Therefore, the development prospects of plant extract feed additives are limitless. As long as they are properly used, they will become one of the most popular feed additives in animal husbandry in the 21st century.
