Review: Pig-based bioconversion: the use of former food products to keep nutrients in the food chain
L. Pinotti,
L. Ferrari,
F. Fumagalli,
A. Luciano,
M. Manoni,
S. Mazzoleni,
C. Govoni,
M.C. Rulli,
P. Lin,
G. Bee,
M. Tretola
Affiliations
L. Pinotti
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (DIVAS), University of Milan, 26900 Lodi, Italy; Corresponding author.
L. Ferrari
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (DIVAS), University of Milan, 26900 Lodi, Italy
F. Fumagalli
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (DIVAS), University of Milan, 26900 Lodi, Italy
A. Luciano
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (DIVAS), University of Milan, 26900 Lodi, Italy
M. Manoni
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (DIVAS), University of Milan, 26900 Lodi, Italy
S. Mazzoleni
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (DIVAS), University of Milan, 26900 Lodi, Italy
C. Govoni
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA), Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
M.C. Rulli
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA), Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
P. Lin
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (DIVAS), University of Milan, 26900 Lodi, Italy; Agroscope, Institute for Livestock Production, 1725 Posieux, Switzerland
G. Bee
Agroscope, Institute for Livestock Production, 1725 Posieux, Switzerland
M. Tretola
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (DIVAS), University of Milan, 26900 Lodi, Italy; Agroscope, Institute for Livestock Production, 1725 Posieux, Switzerland
The primary challenge of agriculture and livestock production is to face the growing competition between food, feed, fibre, and fuel, converting them from resource-intensive to resource-efficient. A circular economy approach, using agricultural by-products/co-products, in the livestock production system would allow to reduce, reuse, and redistribute the resources. Former food products (FFPs), also named ex-foods, could represent a valid option in strengthening resilience in animal nutrition. FFPs have a promising potential to be included regularly in animal diets due to their nutritive value, although their potential in animal nutrition remains understudied. A thorough investigation of the compositional and dietary features, thus, is essential to provide new and fundamental insights to effectively reuse FFPs as upgraded products for swine nutrition. Safety aspects, such as the microbial load or the presence of packaging remnants, should be considered with caution. Here, with a holistic approach, we review several aspects of FFPs and their use as feed ingredients: the nutritional and functional evaluation, the impact of the inclusion of FFPs in pigs’ diet on growth performance and welfare, and further aspects related to safety and sustainability of FFPs.