Monogastric Animal Nutrition and Metabolism

Dear Colleagues,

The emerging global climate change reduces the reliability of food resources at local markets. Solutions are needed to avoid further competition between human and animal nutrition. Especially in species with low fermentative capacity, the large overlap in diet ingredients with human nutrition needs to be revisited. Although not all monogastric species are low in fermentative capacity, they are typically envisaged as most competing with human food resources.

Whether used for husbandry, as companion or in conservation programs, nutritionally related metabolic disorders are widespread in captive monogastric species, including—but not exclusively—obesity, inflammatory problems and mineral deficiencies. It implies that more efforts are needed to identify the determinants of nutritional requirements (i.e., not only nutrient requirements) in particular species.

Manuscripts submitted to this special issue in Animals should thus provide insight in the way that optimal nutrition maintains desired metabolic functioning, or how malnutrition leads to metabolic disturbances. Studies on one particular species are welcome, but comparative studies are encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Geert Janssens
Guest Editor