Nutritional Physiology Research Group

Last modified: 20. October 2022

The Group conducts research on the physiological and biochemical processes of animal production and nutrition. The members of the Group apply state-of-the-art methods and instruments for studying the digestive characteristics of farm animals and the intermediary metabolism of the main nutrients and its regulation (nitrogen analysers; solid-liquid extraction systems; fibre analysers; calorimeters; atom-absorption spectrophotometer; HPLC amino acid analyser; GC MS; UV-VIS spectrophotometer). To determine the apparent digestibility of nutrients, they perform metabolic tests with sheep, pigs and rabbits. Using complex studies, they determine the net energy and metabolisable energy content of ruminant feeds. Collaborating with several other research institutions and departments, they conduct research on the relationship of animal nutrition and environmental protection and the development of environment-friendly animal production systems.

Research fields of the Group:

• Usability of industrial by-products and protein feeds for animal nutrition purposes
• Study of the digestive-physiological effects of nutritional factors (protected fat, by-pass protein, additives) in farm animals
• Rumen monitoring and in situ rumen degradability studies in sheep
• Regulation of hormonal signal transduction as well as metabolic and inflammatory processes through nutritional factors