Both liquid and dry form Morinda citrifolia enhanced animal food products are provided for increasing CD8 + T cell activation in new born animals. Both contain M. citrifolia fruit puree and other M. citrifolia plant products.
1. A method for increasing CD8 + T cell activation in an animal in need thereof, the method comprising the steps of:
a. commencing feeding a dry food product to the animal when the animal is between 36 and 48 hours old, and
b. continuing to feed the dry food product to the animal for a period of two weeks, wherein the dry food product is mixed with milk replacer and fed to the animal twice daily during the two-week period such that the consumption of the dry food product causes an increase in CD8 + T cell activation in the animal by the third day of the two-week period and maintains an increased level of CD8 + T cell activation during the remainder of the two-week period, wherein
said dry food product comprises:
M. citrifolia pasteurized fruit puree; and
a M. citrifolia roasted seed product comprising one or more of: whole roasted noni seeds, whole roasted defatted noni seeds, roasted cracked noni seeds defatted, roasted cracked noni seeds, roasted ground noni seeds, roasted ground noni seeds defatted, roasted flaked noni defatted seeds, roasted flaked noni seeds, roasted extruded noni defatted seeds, roasted extruded noni seeds and extracts from roasted extruded noni seeds.
2. The method of claim 1 , the dry food product further comprising an ingredient selected from a list comprising: glycosaminoglycans, hyaluronic acid, glucosamine HCl, glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, long chain fatty acids, omega 3 fatty acids, omega 6 fatty acids, macro minerals, plus micro minerals, peptides chains, branched chain amino acids.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dry food product further comprises an active ingredient selected from a group comprising quercetin, rutin, scopoletin, octoanoic acid, potassium, vitamin C, terpenoids, alkaloids, anthraquinones, nordamnacanthal, morindone, rubiandin, B-sitosterol, carotene, vitamin A, flavone glycosides, linoleic acid, Alizarin, amino acids, acubin, L-asperuloside, caproic acid, caprylic acid, ursolic acid, and putative proxeronines.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said quercetin is present in an amount between about 0.1 and 10 percent by weight of the dry food product.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
collecting blood from the animal after the third day of the two-week period; and
processing the blood to generate flow cytometry results to verify the increase in the level of CD8 + T cell activation.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
feeding the dry food product to the animal beyond the two-week period when the flow cytometry results indicate that the level of CD8 + T cell activation is below a threshold.