The rapid expansion of the livestock production sector to meet the world population’s demand is posing a big challenge to environmental sustainability. Plant-based feed additives extracted from agro-food byproducts could potentially result in multiple outcomes: reducing food-processing wastes and improving animal growth performances, hence mitigating environmental impacts of meat production chains. This presented study was carried out to assess the environmental impacts of the use of a commercial citrus extract feed additive (CEFA) in swine and broiler chicken farming. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to assess the impact of manufacturing and distributing one 25 kg bag of CEFA and its use in feed in broiler chicken and swine productions. With regards to CEFA manufacturing and distribution, results showed that most of the impact came from the production of CEFA ingredients, accounting for 70% of the impact generated. The remaining 30% effect was divided between transportation to the customer (25%), CEFA packaging (3%), and CEFA manufacturing and production loss (2%). When enlarging the scope, the use of the CEFA in pigs and broilers’ diets was shown to improve the measured environmental indicators, compared to such standard systems. Indeed, CEFA-added feeds have demonstrated enhanced growth performances, hence reducing the required amount of consumed feed to achieve the same level of growth. Consequently, this helped reduce environmental issues from animal feed ingredients’ agriculture. To be more specific, the use of one 25 kg bag of CEFA in feed at 250 g per ton of feed led to a reduction of 6 tons of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂ eq) emitted along the life cycle of poultry production and 5 tons in the case of fattening pigs. The inclusion of this CEFA in the diet also led to a reduction in the land use footprint by 0.7 hectares and reductions in water consumption by 201 m³ and 82 m³ for broiler chicken and swine production, respectively. The environmental performance assessment thus showed the interest in using this CEFA in swine and broiler chicken diets to mitigate the environmental impacts.

Heat stress (HS) in dairy cows disrupts homeostasis and thermoregulation, negatively affecting milk production, health status, and metabolism. Dietary supplementation with phytoextracts such as polyphenols may offer an effective dietary strategy by stimulating the immune system, reducing oxidative stress, and ultimately enhancing welfare, metabolic function, and milk performance. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of supplementing mid-lactating Fleckvieh cows with rumen-protected grape extract (Nor-Grape BP-O, Nor-Feed) on milk performance, rectal temperature (RT), behavior, immunometabolism, rumen fermentation, and innate immune response under naturally occurring HS conditions (temperature-humidity index >72). Thirty cows were balanced by days in milk, milk yield, and parity, and randomly assigned to receive either 470 mg/cow per day of Nor-Grape BP-O supplementation (NG-BPO, n = 15) or a control diet without supplementation (CTR, n = 15) and monitored for 35 d. Both groups were cooled daily using forced ventilation and fans. Temperature-humidity index, milk yield, heavy breathing (HB), rumination, and eating time were recorded daily. Milk, blood, and rumen fluid samples were collected at different time points, and RT was measured. The NG-BPO cows exhibited greater milk production, fat-corrected milk, energy-corrected milk, and yields of fat and protein, alongside lower SCC compared with CTR cows. The NG-BPO cows exhibited improved thermoregulatory responses, reflected by significantly lower RT and reduced HB. Supplementation with Nor-Grape BP-O lowered inflammatory status and enhanced innate immune responses, as indicated by higher plasma zinc and myeloperoxidase levels, lower haptoglobin concentrations, and increased phagocytic activity of neutrophils and monocytes compared with CTR cows. These findings were supported by higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1 β during peak HS periods, compared with CTR cows. In addition, the NG-BPO group had lower circulating platelet and eosinophil counts compared with the CTR group. In conclusion, supplementation with a low dose of rumen-protected dry grape extract-rich in low-molecular-weight polyphenols (oligomeric and monomeric flavanols, anthocyanins)-effectively supported milk production and quality in heat-stressed dairy cows. Moreover, supplementation improved thermotolerance during heat waves and enhanced innate immune functions while reducing inflammatory responses. These findings suggest Nor-Grape BP-O as an effective dietary strategy to mitigate the negative effects of heat stress by enhancing cow performance and welfare during periods of elevated environmental temperatures.

The rapid expansion of livestock production sector to meet the world population demand is posing a big challenge to environmental sustainability. Plant-based feed additives extracted from food by-products could potentially result in a double outcome: improving animal zootechnical performances and mitigating environmental impacts of meat production chains. This presented study was carried out to assess the environmental impacts of the supplementation of a commercial Citrus extract feed additive (CEFA) in swine and broiler farming. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to assess the impact of manufacturing and distributing 1 bag of 25 kg of CEFA and its use in feed in broiler and swine productions. With regard to CEFA manufacturing and distribution, results showed that the majority of impact came from the production of CEFA ingredients, accounting for 70% impact generated. The remaining 30% effect was divided to transportation to customer (25%), CEFA packaging (3%), CEFA manufacture, and production loss (2%). When enlarging the scope, the use of CEFA in piglet and broiler diets showed improving the measured environmental indicators, compared to such standard systems. Indeed, feed supplemented CEFA have demonstrated in elevating zootechnical performances, hence saving feed consumed. Consequently, that helped reduce environmental issues from animal feed ingredients’ agriculture. To be more specific, the supplementation of 25 kg of CEFA in feed led to a reduction of 6 tons of CO2 emitted along the life cycle of broiler production and 5 tons in the case of fattening pig. 0.7 hectares of land used had been saved as well as, 201 m3 of water (broiler) and 82 m3 (swine) were economized. Environmental performance assessment showed the interest in using this CEFA in swine and broiler diets to mitigate the environmental impacts.