Formic acid as an antimicrobial for feedstuffs

Dear colleagues,

This week we wanted to show an interesting review on formic acid.

This review shows the direct activity of formic acid as an additive to control bacterial growth in feed.

Indeed, it seems that formic acid and its derivatives can be a direct solution to control the level of salmonella in feed and subsequently obtain a direct and indirect antimicrobial effect in the gastrointestinal tract, although as the article clarifies they are related actions but do not follow exactly the same mechanism of action.

It is also important to mention that the effect of formic acid may be limited due to several factors such as the buffering capacity of several of the components of the feed or drinking water.

Another fact to consider is that when talking specifically about the action of formic acid in the intestinal tract, it seems that this is limited to the anterior sections as the concentration probably decreases in the posterior parts, but it seems that this problem can be solved by supplementing part of the acid in the form of effective encapsulates as for example we do in Nutribiogenics with the NBG Protect technology.

It is also commented that there are some articles that propose the mixture of organic acids to improve the spectrum of action and therefore the efficacy, but this will depend on whether our objective is to control only salmonella and other enterobacteria with similar sensitivity or we want to have a broader antimicrobial solution that includes even fungi where for example propionic acid is shown as a good option.

Finally, just indicate that the doses to be used vary depending on the concentration, the protection, the problem to be treated and the type of ingredients in the diet. For example, for commercial products with a concentration of 30% the doses vary from 1 to 5 kg per ton of feed.

For more information you can access the article: