page_title: Pantothenic acid
section_title: Animal nutrition
hierarchical_section_title: Pantothenic acid / Animal nutrition
context_page_description: Pantothenic acid, also called vitamin B₅ is a water-soluble B vitamin and therefore an essential nutrient. All animals require pantothenic acid in order to synthesize coenzyme A – essential for fatty acid metabolism – as well as to in general synthesize and metabolize proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
  Pantothenic acid is the combination of pantoic acid and β-alanine. Its name derives from the Greek pantos, meaning "from everywhere", as minimally, at least small quantities of pantothenic acid are found in nearly every food. Human deficiency is very rare. As a dietary supplement or animal feed ingredient the form commonly used is calcium pantothenate because of chemical stability, and hence long product shelf life, compared to sodium pantothenate or free pantothenic acid.
context_section_description: Calcium pantothenate and dexpanthenol (D-panthenol) are European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved additives to animal feed. Supplementation is on the order of 8–20 mg/kg for pigs, 10–15 mg/kg for poultry, 30–50 mg/kg for fish and 8–14 mg/kg feed for pets. These are recommended concentrations, designed to be higher than what are thought to be requirements. There is some evidence that feed supplementation increases pantothenic acid concentration in tissues, i.e., meat, consumed by humans, and also for eggs, but this raises no concerns for consumer safety.
  No dietary requirement for pantothenic acid has been established in ruminant species. Synthesis of pantothenic acid by ruminal microorganisms appears to be 20 to 30 times more than dietary amounts. Net microbial synthesis of pantothenic acid in the rumen of steer calves has been estimated to be 2.2 mg/kg of digestible organic matter consumed per day. Supplementation of pantothenic acid at 5 to 10 times theoretical requirements did not improve growth performance of feedlot cattle.
caption: Pantothenic acid biosynthesis