UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – High-flavonoid corn feed, developed by Penn State University and dubbed PennHFD, reduces the incidence of intestinal disease in broiler chickens, research shows.

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is an intestinal disease caused by an overgrowth of Clostridium perfringens Type A and C, a type of bacteria. Cofactors like predisposing dietary ingredients, such as high levels of non-starch polysaccharides and high levels of animal protein, and coccidia parasites interact with Clostridium perfringens to generate NE. The disease primarily affects broiler chickens between the ages of two and five weeks, with a mortality rate as high as 30 percent in untreated flocks. Researchers estimate the global cost of the disease is $2-$6 billion annually.

“A while ago, it was possible to use antibiotics that were very, very effective (at treating NE) and it’s still possible, but people are choosing not to use antibiotics for their chicken production so the consumer receives antibiotic-free products,” said Gino Lorenzoni, associate professor of poultry science and avian health at Penn State. “For that reason, this bacterial disease became way more prevalent.”

As such, researchers have been investigating alternative treatments, mostly in the form of natural additives. Surinder Chopra, professor of maize genetics at Penn State, approached Lorenzoni about a high-flavonoid corn line that showed efficacy in reducing disease in experiments using mice.

Lorenzoni and his group have conducted and published several research studies demonstrating the efficacy of PennHFD in reducing NE in broiler chickens. In a study of 400 broiler chickens with NE, birds fed a PennHFD-based diet had a 48 percent lower incidence of intestinal lesions and a 23 percent lower mortality rate compared to birds fed a commercial corn-based diet. Researchers also saw a boost in performance, Lorenzoni added. Birds fed PennHFD showed higher body weight gain and a better feed-conversion ratio.

“One of the thoughts behind feeding natural ingredients is that we can either kill the bacteria or suppress the multiplication of the parasite, or influence the microbiota somehow. We can also modulate the immune response and inflammation,” Lorenzoni said. “We’ve been trying to determine which system this corn feed is influencing.”

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how flavonoids work, Lorenzoni said. He first hypothesized that the high-flavonoid corn feed was modulating inflammation, leading to decreased disease. However, his microbiota research has shown that the feed impacts the composition of the microbiome, which can lead to many other effects, Lorenzoni added. Other research has shown that when chickens are fed PennHFD, the bacteria that cause NE are less capable of colonizing the surface of the intestine, and there is a lower relative abundance of the bacteria that cause NE. However, Lorenzoni said that the feed likely has a multifactorial impact on the birds, meaning that other bodily systems could be involved.

The group is also working on understanding how flavonoids impact oxidative stress, which can lead to cell damage, at the intestinal level. Lorenzoni’s lab also studies coccidiosis, or cocci, a parasitic infection that destroys the lining of poultry intestines. Lorenzoni and his team are interested in the interaction between cocci infection and PennHFD.

“(PennHFD) could be a gamechanger,” he said. “I mean, you don’t have to add anything (to the poultry’s diet). You just add a different variety of corn – it’s an all-in-one intervention. It would be fantastic to have a solution like this available for our farmers.”

To that end, Scott Welsh, managing partner at Fieldstone Innovations LLC, has been working with the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State to evaluate the high-flavonoid corn lines and feed for commercial potential. High-flavonoid corn has two profitable routes: Chopra and his group have demonstrated its ability to combat corn pests, while Lorenzoni and his group have demonstrated its ability to prevent infections in birds. However, Welsh said that having high-flavonoid corn lines and products on the market is realistically five years out.

“We need to validate that the combination of productivity in the field (agronomic traits and yield) and performance in poultry (feed efficiency, wealth benefits) of the high-flavonoid corn justifies a new corn supply chain,” Welsh said in an email. “We think organic markets may be the first market segment because of the potential for flavonoids to provide insect and disease suppression in the field and the limits on antibiotics in the birds.”

Currently, Welsh is speaking with poultry integrators and corn genetics companies to explore commercial relationships. Chopra and his lab are evaluating hybrid crosses to determine the best genetic backgrounds to support high flavonoid traits. Lorenzoni and his lab will continue to refine feed strategies to optimize the benefits of using high-flavonoid corn.