Innovation Drives Development, Small Peptide Technology Leads the Future of Animal Husbandry

In the context of the “dual carbon” goal and the green transformation of the global animal husbandry industry, small peptide trace element technology has become the core tool to solve the dual contradictions of “improving quality and efficiency” and “ecological protection” in the industry with its efficient absorption and emission reduction characteristics. With the implementation of the EU “Co-additive Regulation ( 2024/EC )” and the popularization of blockchain technology, the field of organic micro-minerals is undergoing a profound transformation from empirical formulation to scientific models, and from extensive management to full traceability. This article systematically analyzes the application value of small peptide technology, combines the policy direction of animal husbandry, changes in market demand, technological breakthroughs of small peptides, and quality requirements, and other cutting-edge trends, and proposes a green transformation path for animal husbandry in 2025 .

1. Policy trends

1) The EU officially implemented the Livestock Emission Reduction Act in January 2025 , requiring a 30% reduction in heavy metal residues in feed , and accelerating the industry’s transition to organic trace elements. The 2025 Green Feed Act explicitly requires that the use of inorganic trace elements (such as zinc sulfate and copper sulfate) in feed be reduced by 50% by 2030 , and that organic chelated products be promoted as a priority.

2) China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released the “Green Access Catalogue for Feed Additives”, and small peptide chelated products were listed as “recommended alternatives” for the first time.

3) Southeast Asia: Many countries jointly launched the “Zero Antibiotic Farming Plan” to promote trace elements from “nutritional supplementation” to “functional regulation” (such as anti-stress and immune enhancement).

2. Changes in market demand

The surge in consumer demand for “meat with zero antibiotic residues” has driven the demand for environmentally friendly trace elements with high absorption rates on the farming side. According to industry statistics, the global market size of small peptide chelated trace elements increased by 42% year-on-year in Q1 2025.

Due to frequent extreme climates in North America and Southeast Asia, farms are paying more attention to the role of trace elements in resisting stress and enhancing animal immunity.

3. Technological breakthrough: the core competitiveness of small peptide chelated trace products

1) Efficient bioavailability, breaking through the bottleneck of traditional absorption

Small peptides chelate trace elements by wrapping metal ions through peptide chains to form stable complexes, which are actively absorbed through the intestinal peptide transport system (such as PepT1), avoiding gastric acid damage and ion antagonism, and their bioavailability is 2-3 times higher than that of inorganic salts.

2) Functional synergy to improve production performance in multiple dimensions

Small peptide trace elements regulate intestinal flora (lactic acid bacteria proliferate 20-40 times), enhance the development of immune organs (antibody titer increases 1.5 times), and optimize nutrient absorption (feed-to-meat ratio reaches 2.35:1), thereby improving production performance in multiple dimensions, including egg production rate (+4%) and daily weight gain (+8%).

3) Strong stability, effectively protecting feed quality

Small peptides form multi-dentate coordination with metal ions through amino, carboxyl and other functional groups to form a five-membered/six-membered ring chelate structure. Ring coordination reduces system energy, steric hindrance shields external interference, and charge neutralization reduces electrostatic repulsion, which together enhances the stability of the chelate.

Fig 1 Stability constants of different ligands binding to Cu ²⁺

Weakly bound trace mineral sources are more likely to undergo redox reactions with vitamins, oils, enzymes and antioxidants, affecting the effective value of feed nutrients. However, this effect can be reduced by carefully selecting a trace element with high stability and low reaction with vitamins.

Taking vitamins as an example, Concarr et al. ( 2021a ) studied the stability of vitamin E after short-term storage of inorganic sulfate or different forms of organic mineral premixes . The authors found that the source of trace elements significantly affected the stability of vitamin E , and the premix using organic glycinate had the highest vitamin loss of 31.9% , followed by the premix using amino acid complexes, which was 25.7% . There was no significant difference in the stability loss of vitamin E in the premix containing protein salts compared with the control group .

Similarly, the retention rate of vitamins in organic trace element chelates in the form of small peptides (called x- peptide multi-minerals) is significantly higher than that of other mineral sources (Figure 2 ). (Note: The organic multi-minerals in Figure 2 are glycine series multi-minerals).

Fig 2 Effect of premixes from different sources on vitamin retention rate

1) Reducing pollution and emissions to solve environmental management problems

4. Quality requirements: standardization and compliance: seizing the high ground of international competition

1) Adaptation to new EU regulations: meet the requirements of 2024/EC regulations and provide metabolic pathway maps

2) Formulate mandatory indicators and label chelation rate, dissociation constant, and intestinal stability parameters

3) Promote blockchain evidence storage technology, upload process parameters and test reports throughout the process

Small peptide trace element technology is not only a revolution in feed additives, but also the core engine of the green transformation of the livestock industry. In 2025, with the acceleration of digitalization, scale and internationalization, this technology will reshape the industry’s competitiveness through the three paths of “efficiency improvement-environmental protection and emission reduction-value-added”. In the future, it is necessary to further strengthen the collaboration between industry, academia and research, promote the internationalization of technical standards, and make the Chinese solution a benchmark for sustainable development of global livestock.