Lysolecithins are added to poultry diets to
promote the intestinal absorption of nutrients, in particular
of dietary fats. Lysolecithins contain a mixture
of phospho- and lysophospholipids and differ in composition
depending on the conditions and source of the
lecithin used for its production. The importance of the
lysolecithin composition and its interaction with the fat
type was investigated in vitro in a fat digestion model
and in vivo in a digestibility trial with broilers (24 to
28 d age). The in vitro digestion of soybean oil and pig
lard was investigated without and with the inclusion of
soybean or rapeseed lysolecithin. Correspondingly, for
the digestibility trial, 108 Ross 308 male broilers were
assigned to 6 dietary treatments: a basal diet with either
soybean oil (5.3%) or pig lard (5.8%), each basal
diet supplemented with 250 ppm soybean lysolecithin,
and each basal diet supplemented with 250 ppm rapeseed
lysolecithin.