E.C.O.Trace® Copper

Copper is important for healthy animals. Copper has many physiological functions. It participates in iron metabolism, energy metabolism, and the formation of normal hair color. It is essential for body, bone, and wool growth, healthy nerve fibers, and white blood cell function. In shrimp, copper is part of the protein that transports oxygen in the blood.

Despite copper’s importance, it is often supplemented as inorganic copper such as copper oxide or sulfate. However, inorganic copper is easily separated in the gut allowing for the formation of insoluble complexes with other free metals or other dietary components. This results in unabsorbed copper being excreted in the feces, potentially contaminating the environment.

Organically bound copper is a copper bound to a single amino acid or a small peptide from hydrolyzed soy protein. Organic copper has greater binding strength and is better protected from antagonistic effects in the gut. The result is copper that is better absorbed and metabolized, with a direct impact on animal health and productivity.

E.C.O.Trace® Copper is an organic form of copper bound to the amino acid glycine, also commonly known as glycinate. This has numerous advantages over inorganic forms of copper such as copper sulfate. The copper-glycine complex provides superior stability at the low pH found in the gastrointestinal tract. This results in fewer insoluble complexes between different dietary compounds in the gut and less antagonistic effects between mineral transport. In addition, effective transport to the intestinal wall and beneficial absorption rate leads to higher bioavailability.

Copper is only a small part of the total feed—but it makes all the difference! Copper can only provide nutritional value if it is absorbed. E.C.O.Trace® Copper has been successfully used in high-performance animal feeds with proven superior absorption over inorganic copper. E.C.O.Trace® Copper glycine-chelates are an easy choice!