Anti nutritional factors:

– Compounds or substances which act to reduce nutrient intake, digestion, absorption and utilization and may produce other adverse effects are referred to as anti-nutrients or anti-nutritional factors.

– Secondary plant metabolites, also referred to as anti-nutritional factors (ANFs), cause depressions in growth performance and animal health due to a variety of mechanisms including reducing protein digestibility, binding to various nutrients or damaging the intestinal wall, thereby lowering digestive efficiency.

– Antinutritives can interfere with food components before intake, during digestion in the gastrointestinal tract, and after absorption in the body.