Reduced use of antibiotics in livestock farming by sustainably produced substances from the forest

Important results from the project

Every year, more than 10 million tonnes of antibiotics are added to feed in North America and Europe. Natural replacements are needed to solve this challenge. A component with great potential for the replacement of antibiotics in feed, is the substance capsaicin, which is found in chili peppers. However, it is difficult to produce industrially, and today´s processes lead to a product of low quality. Organofuel has developed a new patented sustainable process for producing high-quality capsaicin from renewable wood raw materials.

Expected long term effects

** Denna text är maskinöversatt ** We have succeeded in optimizing the process for the production of capsaicin. This work has laid the foundation for fundamental knowledge used in another project where we have scaled up the process 100 times and started a commercial facility in July 2021. We have now also developed a prototype for the formulation to be used commercially. We have performed tests with very good results according to OECD408, 471 and 487. Which shows that the product is safe to use.

Approach and implementation

** Denna text är maskinöversatt ** The work was divided into three parts: 1. Optimization and scaling up of the capsaicin process. Performed initially on a lab scale and later in a commercial facility on a 100 times larger scale. 2. Incorporation of capsaicin in feed. A feed supplement product was formulated in the project after the customers´ needs and processes were evaluated. 3. Evaluation of the product and production of test data. We conducted important regulatory studies to show that the use of the product is safe.