Animal Nutrition

Animal nutrition encompasses the science of supplying and utilising nutrients to support maintenance, growth, reproduction and health across domesticated and wild species. It integrates knowledge of carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism with mineral and vitamin requirements, delving into digestive physiology—from ruminant fermentation to hindgut and monogastric absorption—and the roles of the gut microbiota in fermenting fibre into short-chain fatty acids. Balanced provision of essential amino acids and degradable protein fractions underpins muscle accretion, milk and egg formation, while energy density regulates feed intake and body condition. Mineral and vitamin homeostasis maintains bone health, immune competence and enzymatic function, and water remains indispensable for nutrient transport and thermoregulation. Contemporary challenges include optimising feed conversion, reducing nitrogen and phosphorus excretion, and replacing finite resources such as fishmeal and soy with sustainable alternatives—single-cell proteins, insect meals, by-products and microalgal oils—within a circular bioeconomy. Precision feeding approaches harness real-time monitoring and data analytics to match ration composition to physiological state, breed and production system, thereby enhancing animal welfare, minimising greenhouse-gas emissions and securing global food supply.

Research from Nature Portfolio

A global assessment of crop and livestock by-products demonstrates that substituting cereals, pulses and vegetable oils with appropriately processed residues could boost net food supply by up to 16 % in calories and 19 % in protein, offering a scalable route to feed rising demand without expanding cropland. Another study mapped livestock systems in low- and middle-income countries, revealing that regions such as South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America combine high mitigation potential with urgent adaptation needs. By overlaying socio-economic indicators and climate vulnerability, it identified priority zones where integrated investments in improved grazing, feed supplementation and institutional capacity can simultaneously reduce emissions and reinforce resilience.

Animal Nutrition publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in animal nutrition across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Essential amino acid: An amino acid that cannot be synthesised by the animal and must be provided in the diet.

Apparent metabolizable energy (AME): The portion of dietary energy retained after losses in faeces and urine are subtracted.

Feed conversion ratio (FCR): The mass of feed required to yield one unit of body-weight gain or product output.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs): Acetate, propionate and butyrate produced by microbial fermentation of fibre, serving as energy substrates and gut modulators.

Circular bioeconomy: A model that valorises organic wastes and by-products as feed inputs, closing nutrient loops and minimising waste.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA): A cradle-to-gate analysis quantifying environmental impacts associated with feed ingredients or production systems.

Gut microbiota: The diverse community of microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract that influences nutrient digestion, immune function and metabolic health.

References

1. Nutrition and Metabolism: Foundations for Animal Growth, Development, Reproduction, and Health.
2. Food system by-products upcycled in livestock and aquaculture feeds can increase global food supply. Nature Food (2022).
3. Priority areas for investment in more sustainable and climate-resilient livestock systems. Nature Sustainability (2023).
4. Towards circularity in aquaculture systems: Environmental impact of Hermetia illucens meal inclusion in diets for rainbow trout reared in aquaponics. Journal of Cleaner Production (2024).
5. Impacts of climate change on the livestock food supply chain; a review of the evidence. Global Food Security (2021).
6. Replacing fishmeal with plant protein in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) diets by supplementation with fish protein hydrolysate. Scientific Reports (2020).
7. An Evaluation of Smart Livestock Feeding Strategies. Journal of Robotics Spectrum (2023).
8. Recent advances in single cell protein use as a feed ingredient in aquaculture. Current Opinion in Biotechnology (2020).