Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract

This ingredient is a dried enzyme extract made by growing the mold Aspergillus niger and collecting the enzymes it produces. It contains enzymes, not a live mold culture. Tufts veterinary nutritionists say there is no proof that extra enzymes help digestion in pets with a normal pancreas, and some side effects have been reported with enzyme supplements. A cat with pancreatic or digestive disease needs its veterinarian's advice.

Source: sites.tufts.edu

It is added as a source of digestive enzymes. Enzymes from Aspergillus niger can break down starch and protein, so makers include it on the idea that it helps a cat digest its food. Their benefit in pet food has not been shown, and the amounts used are small.

A fermentation extract is the enzyme-rich material taken from a microbe after it is grown in a fermenter. The label names the organism, here Aspergillus niger, so you know where the enzymes came from. A fermentation product is different. That term usually means the dried microbes themselves, such as probiotic bacteria. Extracts carry enzymes, products carry live cultures.

Enzymes are proteins, and cooking can destroy their activity. Tufts veterinary nutritionists say the enzymes naturally present in food have more to do with spoilage than with digestion, so losing them in cooking makes no measurable difference. A pet with a working pancreas already makes its own digestive enzymes, and a study in dogs found no change in nutrient digestibility from added enzyme supplements.

Source: sites.tufts.edu

Pettings gives dried Aspergillus niger fermentation extract 3 out of 5 and lists it as a probiotic or enzyme ingredient. It appears on 7 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. The score reflects the ingredient on its own and does not depend on where it sits in the ingredient list. Each food's page shows how it scores overall.