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Handling Characteristic Evaluation of Free, Standard and Lipid Microencapsulated Vitamin and Mineral Premixes



Author(s)

Olivia Wedegaertner¹, Adam Fahrenholz¹, Jean-Daniel Bunod², Jean Fontaine² and Peter Ferket¹

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DOI:10.17265/2161-6256/2020.05.002

1. Prestage Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, 2711 Founders Drive, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA
2. JEFO Nutrition, Inc., 5020 Avenue Jefo, Saint-Hyacinthe, QUE, J2R 2E7, Canada

Feed ingredients can change physically or chemically when exposed to moisture, heat or pressure. These changes impact how well they flow through a bin and disperse throughout the feed. Microencapsulation is a relatively new technique used to reduce reactivity and improve storage and handling characteristics (HC) of nutrients. The authors hypothesize that lipid matrix microencapsulation of free vitamin and mineral (VM) premixes significantly improve their HC making them more desirable products for feed mills. Triplicate samples of free, standard and lipid microencapsulated VM premixes were evaluated for the following HC: particle size (d_gw), particle size variability (S_gw), flowability (measured by angle of repose (AOR) and minimum orifice diameter (MOD)), lumping, compressibility, bulk and tapped density, solubility and hygroscopic percent change in weight (day 0-1, 0-3, 0-5, 5-9, 0-9). Results were analyzed in a 3 × 2 factorial (JMP Pro 14) of form (free, standard, microencapsulated) by type (vitamin, mineral). Microencapsulated VM had the highest d_gw (611.0 µm and 722.7 µm, respectively, p = 0.002); free and microencapsulated vitamins had the smallest S_gw (1.67 and 1.49, respectively, p < 0.001). Microencapsulated premixes had significantly lower AOR (p < 0.001) and MOD values (p < 0.001) than other premixes, indicating improved flowability. From days 0-3 and 0-5, microencapsulated premixes absorbed approximately half as much moisture (1.62% and 2.24%, respectively) than the free (3.48% and 5.04%, respectively) or standard (3.74% and 5.26%, respectively) premixes (p = 0.001). The benefits gained from lipid matrix microencapsulation technology not only improve the HC of animal feed additives, but also improve the stability of VM premixes.

Lipid microencapsulation, vitamin, mineral, poultry, swine, flowability.