Processing technology to improve seaweed nutritional quality as a feed for poultry: a review and its implementation

Seaweed is chemically and phytochemically one of the most diverse marine species that has received special interest as a feed ingredient, supplement, and additive for poultry. The abundant biomass production in the tropics and their bio-active compounds profile such as alginate, fucoidan, fucoxanthin, phlorotannin, laminarin, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) possess many biological roles as antioxidant, antimicrobials, and immunomodulatory effects that are beneficial to improve gut health and performance of poultry. However, seaweeds use as a poultry feed ingredient is limited by their high content of salt (NaCl), anti-nutritional factors, indigestible nutrients, and low energy content. High NaCl content in poultry rations can lead to diarrhoea and high mortality. On the other hand, seaweed carbohydrates can inhibit nutrient absorption in the poultry digestive tract. In this review, we discuss the recent updates on the use of seaweed in poultry feeding, the impacts of various processing methods to eliminate antinutritional factors, and future directions of processing technology that need to be developed to optimise the use of seaweeds in poultry. This includes biological, chemical, and physical approaches to reduce seaweed NaCl, optimise bioactive compounds extraction and purification, reduce anti-nutrition content, and decompose seaweed indigestible carbohydrates before being mixed as a poultry feed ingredient. In the production and health aspects of poultry, bioactive constituents extracted from seaweed possess antimicrobial and immunomodulatory effects that have positive associations with the improvement of production performance.