Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9600
ISSN: 2155-9600
Celine Nicolas, Houziaux A, Monginoux P and Navarro C
Virbac Group, France
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nutr Food Sci
The palatability and chewing time of Veggiedent® ZEN and Veggiedent® FLEX (Virbac) were evaluated in independent studies. Both products combine the FR3SH�?� technology (pomegranate, erythritol and inulin) for fresh breath and either L-theanine (Veggiedent® ZEN) known to support relaxation or Eggshell membrane (Veggiedent® FLEX) known to support joint health and mobility. Over the 37 dogs testing Veggiedent® ZEN, all took the chew (prehension: 100%), 35/37 chewed it (chewing: 95%) and 34/37 completely consumed the chew (acceptability: 92%). The mean (SD) chewing time was of 244 (122) sec and was of 228 (85) sec (=3 min 48 sec) after exclusion of 1 atypical dog chewing for more than 10 min. All the 36 dogs testing Veggiedent® FLEX took it (prehension: 100%), chewed it (chewing: 100%) and totally consumed it (acceptability: 100%). The mean (SD) chewing time was of 319 (148) sec and was of 288 (109) sec (=4 min 48 sec) after exclusion of 3 atypical dogs chewing for more than 10 min. The ileal digestibility of dry matter of these two products was also tested in an independent lab, based on Boisen�??s method in vitro, following two incubation steps: One with a pepsin solution, pH 2 for 6 hours to mimic gastric digestion and one with a pancreatin solution, pH 6.8 for 18 hours to mimic small intestinal digestion. Both products were found to be 100% digestible. Therefore, Veggiedent® ZEN and Veggiedent® FLEX are highly palatable and totally digestible in vitro.
Celine Nicolas has completed her Graduation in Veterinary Medicine and PhD from University of Nantes, France. She has also worked as a Postdoctoral fellow and Research Assistant at University of Bristol, UK and also University of Nice, France. She has published several articles in reputed journals and joined Virbac.
E-mail: celine.nicolas@virbac.com