Chlorella vulgaris microalgae in Ruminant Nutrition: a Review of the Chemical Composition and Nutritive Value

Abstract

Recently, microalgae, natural marine resources, have gained increasing interests as a feed for animals. Chlorella vulgaris microalgae are single-cell microorganisms that have been used to provide nutrition to humans and animals for centuries. In the present review, we unveil the composition and nutritive value of C. vulgaris microalgae as a feed for ruminants. Research has shown that inclusion of C. vulgaris microalgae in diets improved feed utilization, milk production and quality, growth performance, and meat quality in ruminants, as a result of improved diet nutritive value leading to improved feed utilization. Very low doses of C. vulgaris in feed enhance growth and lactational performance of ruminants. Additionally, C. vulgaris showed very promising results as an alternative to corn and soybean meal; however, it is an expensive protein feed. Therefore, the main constraint to use of C. vulgaris as a feedstuff is its high cost of production, making improvement of cultivation technology to reduce the production costs a critical issue in the near future.

Replacing the Concentrate Feed Mixture with Moringa oleifera Leaves Silage and Chlorella vulgaris Microalgae Mixture in Diets of Damascus Goats: Lactation Performance, Nutrient Utilization, and Ruminal Fermentation

“…The MA20 and MA40 treatments increased the digestibility of DM (by 9.8 and 11.0%, respectively), OM (by 11.1 and 13.8%, respectively), CP (by 13.7 and 14.2%, respectively), NDF (by 8.3 and 11.9%, respectively) and ADF (by 7.5 and 10.6%, respectively) compared with the control, which may be related to improved ruminal fermentation and microbial activity with the experimental diets. C. vulgaris is reported to contain CGF and β -glucan, which can scavenge free radicals, resulting in improved digestion and ruminal fermentation [ 11 ]. Moreover, C. vulgaris increased the relative proportions of ruminal Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens , Ruminococcus albus and Clostridium sticklandii in goats and increased ruminal digestibility [ 28 , 29 ].…”

“…C. vulgaris is a fresh-water, unicellular microalga, with a high concentration of CP (about 600 g CP/kg DM) containing all essential amino acids [ 11 , 12 ]. The main amino acids in C. vulgaris are glutamic acid and leucine with relatively high concentrations of lysine and methionine, which are the first two limiting amino acids in animal nutrition [ 2 ].…”

“…The main amino acids in C. vulgaris are glutamic acid and leucine with relatively high concentrations of lysine and methionine, which are the first two limiting amino acids in animal nutrition [ 2 ]. C. vulgaris also contains other biological active components such as antioxidants, provitamins, vitamins, pigments, a growth phytonutrient known as the C. vulgaris growth factor (CGF), unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), glycoproteins and carotenoids [ 11 ]. Experiments [ 3 , 13 ] showed that C. vulgaris improved ruminal bacterial growth and altered ruminal biohydrogenation of monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) due to their effects on ruminal microbes, especially those involved in the metabolism and biohydrogenation of fatty acids in the rumen [ 11 , 14 ].…”

“…C. vulgaris also contains other biological active components such as antioxidants, provitamins, vitamins, pigments, a growth phytonutrient known as the C. vulgaris growth factor (CGF), unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), glycoproteins and carotenoids [ 11 ]. Experiments [ 3 , 13 ] showed that C. vulgaris improved ruminal bacterial growth and altered ruminal biohydrogenation of monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) due to their effects on ruminal microbes, especially those involved in the metabolism and biohydrogenation of fatty acids in the rumen [ 11 , 14 ]. Recently, Kholif et al [ 3 ] observed that the inclusion of C. vulgaris in the diets of lactating Boer goats improved nutrient intake and digestibility, ruminal fermentation, lactational performance and milk nutritive value; however, other researchers [ 15 ] observed weak effects on feed intake, digestibility or daily milk production when feeding C. vulgaris to lactating Finnish Ayrshire cows.…”

Performance and Milk Composition of Nubian Goats as Affected by Increasing Level of Nannochloropsis oculata Microalgae

“…Some microalgae are rich in unsaturated fatty acids (UFA). This makes them as options to improve ruminal fermentation and feed digestion [6][7][8], with high concentrations of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) fatty acids in milk [6,9]. Moreover, some other microalgae are richly endowed with n-3 poly UFA, such as α-linolenic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) [3,10,11].…”