Biotin

Introduction

Biotin, also known as vitamin H or vitamin B7, is a water-soluble B vitamin. It is an essential coenzyme for carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism. Biotin deficiency can lead to hair issues such as hair thinning and brittle fingernails in humans, and poor hoof health in animals such as cows. While biotin is easily available in various kinds of feed and can be synthesized, biotin supplementation has shown to have improved hoof health and milk production in cows.

Manufacturing Process

A process for producing d-biotin comprises cultivating a microorganism of the genus Kurthia which is resistant to biotin antimetabolites and capable of producing d-biotin in a medium under aerobic conditions, and separating the resulting d-biotin from the fermentation broth. The cultivation medium suitably contains an assimilable carbon source, a digestible nitrogen source, inorganic salts and other nutrients necessary for the growth of the microorganism at a pH of about 5-9, temperature of about 10-40° C. and for a duration of about 1-10 days. The preferred microorganism are Kurthia sp. 538-KA26, 538-17H4, 538-51F9 and 538-2A 13.

Animal Supplementation

Biotin supplementation in cows has shown to have improved hoof health effects with improved tensile strength and appearance while higher dosages of biotin supplementation has shown to lead to increased milk production in dairy cows over time.