Skip to main content Skip to Institute of Animal Nutrition and Functional Plant Compounds navigation

The Institute for Animal Nutrition and Functional Plant compounds contributes significantly to its field through research, service and practice-oriented teaching.

This is carried out together with other university and external institutions as well as international partners.

Animal Nutrition working group

The Animal Nutrition working group focuses on nutritional and clinical aspects of pet food and animal feed, and also on the significance of the diet fed to livestock in terms of its impact on the production of foods of animal origin.

A diet that is appropriate for the nutritional needs of particular species and in line with price-performance expectations is a central element of responsible animal husbandry. The Institute for Nutrition seeks to be an important contributor to this effort through research, services and hands‑on education. These efforts are carried out in cooperation with institutions within the University and externally and also with international partners.

Functional Plant Compounds working group

The Functional Plant Compounds working group encompasses the academic fields of botany, pharmacognosy and phytotherapy with regard to their applicability to veterinary medicine. Of primary importance are plants that produce biologically active phytochemicals. Current topics range from the identification, planting and cultivation of medicinal, spice and aromatic plants to the study of poisonous plants, and include the quality of plant-derived drugs, usage of plant-based feed additives and phytotherapy.

At the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, the working group has at its disposal a chemical analytical laboratory, an experiment station with three greenhouses, and a botanical garden based around medicinal plants.

Nutrigenomics working group

The Nutrigenomics working group connects the disciplines of functional livestock genetics and genomics with the discipline of animal nutrition in a transdisciplinary manner in order to gain a better understanding of the individual animal's nutritional and physiological metabolism.

One focus of work is research into the effect of functional feed additives. For this purpose, the working group has a fully equipped cell culture laboratory at its disposal.