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Review
. 2023 Nov 8:16:130-146.
doi: 10.1016/j.aninu.2023.10.003. eCollection 2024 Mar.

Mechanism of action, benefits, and research gap in fermented soybean meal utilization as a high-quality protein source for livestock and poultry

Modinat T Lambo  1 , Haokai Ma  1 , Haosheng Zhang  1 , Peng Song  2 , Hongxiang Mao  2 , Guowen Cui  1 , Baisheng Dai  3 , Yang Li  1 , Yonggen Zhang  1
Affiliations
Review

Mechanism of action, benefits, and research gap in fermented soybean meal utilization as a high-quality protein source for livestock and poultry

Modinat T Lambo et al. Anim Nutr. .

Abstract

Animal nutritionists have incessantly worked towards providing livestock with high-quality plant protein feed resources. Soybean meal (SBM) has been an essential and predominantly adopted vegetable protein source in livestock feeding for a long time; however, several SBM antinutrients could potentially impair the animal's performance and growth, limiting its use. Several processing methods have been employed to remove SBM antinutrients, including fermentation with fungal or bacterial microorganisms. According to the literature, fermentation, a traditional food processing method, could improve SBM's nutritional and functional properties, making it more suitable and beneficial to livestock. The current interest in health-promoting functional feed, which can enhance the growth of animals, improve their immune system, and promote physiological benefits more than conventional feed, coupled with the ban on the use of antimicrobial growth promoters, has caused a renewed interest in the use of fermented SBM (FSBM) in livestock diets. This review details the mechanism of SBM fermentation and its impacts on animal health and discusses the recent trend in the application and emerging advantages to livestock while shedding light on the research gap that needs to be critically addressed in future studies. FSBM appears to be a multifunctional high-quality plant protein source for animals. Besides removing soybean antinutrients, beneficial bioactive peptides and digestive enzymes are produced during fermentation, providing probiotics, antioxidants, and immunomodulatory effects. Critical aspects regarding FSBM feeding to animals remain uncharted, such as the duration of fermentation, the influence of feeding on digestive tissue development, choice of microbial strain, and possible environmental impact.

Keywords: Fermentation; Livestock; Microorganism; Protein feed; Soybean meal.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, and there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the content of this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Diagrammatic representation of some common soybean antinutritional factors and their impact on livestock health.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Diagrammatic representation of the step-by-step solid-state fermentation of soybean meal indicating the one-step and two-step procedures. 1The numerical range refers to fermentation time varying from 1 to 7 d as reported in different studies summarized in this paper. 2The numerical range refers to fermentation time varying from 48 to 96 h as reported in different studies summarized in this paper.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Diagrammatic representation of the mechanism by which fermentation improves the value of soybean meal.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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