A New Era in Dairy Nutrition: Curcumin, Naringin & Carnosic Acid
Larry Roth, Ph.D., PAS - Vice President of Nutrition and Caroline Knoblock, MSc, - Director of Nutrition, Agrarian Solutions
The enhancement of the DTX Concentrate product with the LivOx proprietary blend of plant actives has generated considerable excitement. The LivOx blend is composed of the plant actives curcumin from turmeric, naringin derived from citrus peels and carnosic acid obtained from rosemary. Let’s briefly review two peer-reviewed research papers as support for the newly generated enthusiasm.
Michelotti et al. (2021) utilized an intravenous (IV) infusion of carnosic acid to evaluate the benefits of this powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecule would benefit recently freshened dairy cows. From day 1 to 3 after calving, the researchers daily administered via IV either a saline solution (8 cows) or carnosic acid (0.3 mg/kg BW, 8 cows). Blood samples collected at -7, 2, 5, 7, 14 and 21 days relative to calving were analyzed to determine effects on energy metabolism, lean tissue breakdown, liver health, inflammation and oxidative stress. Importantly, cows receiving carnosic acid produced more (P<0.10) milk (4.5 kg/d) and energy-corrected milk (6.3 kg/d) than the control cows during the three weeks post-freshening despite no difference in dry matter intake. Further, the carnosic acid cows had lower (P<0.01) haptoglobin on day 2 after calving. Additional details on the benefits of carnosic acid for reducing inflammation and oxidative stress in recently freshened cows are available in the interesting research article.
While curcumin is cited for enhancing the strength of intestinal tight junctions, the low bioavailability of the plant active has limited its practicality. Perez de Albuquerque et al. (2023) examined the potential of naringin to increase the intestinal permeability (Papp) to curcumin with human colon carcinoma cell (Caco-2) monolayers. The Caco-2 are often used for in vitro evaluation of intestinal integrity and permeability. The Papp of curcumin was increased from 26.34% without naringin to 100.45% with naringin, demonstrating the importance naringin inclusion when curcumin is supplemented to enhance intestinal integrity. You can read the complete research article here.
The plant active technology provided by carnosic acid, curcumin and naringin complements the cell wall-deficient bacteria to provide a synergistic interaction to defend and protect intestinal integrity and liver health of dairy and beef cattle. Agrarian Solutions will be providing further updates on the research supporting these important plant molecules.