SPECIAL STORY 66 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE September 2023 “Isopropyl ester of the hydroxy analog of methionine (HMBi) stands out as the only reliable way to fulfill Met requirements in ruminant diets to encapsulated forms due to their stability against handling and aggressive thermo-physical processing.” METHIONINE ANALOGS IN RUMINANTS: DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS Diego Martinez del Olmo Business Manager for Ruminants Kemin Europa NV Eyüp Eren Gültepe Innovation Project Leader Kemin Europa NV Thermo-physical processing, such as pelleting and extrusion technologies, is still the most popular compound feed industry method. Due to high operating temperatures and tremendous pressure on the matrix during the processes, surface coating cannot provide enough coating capacity for encapsulated or coated methionine (Met) sources. Isopropyl ester of the hydroxy analog of methionine (HMBi) stands out as the only reliable way to fulfill Met requirements in ruminant diets to encapsulated forms due to their stability against handling and aggressive thermo-physical processing. To achieve expected performance from HMBi in sustainable and profitable ruminant nutrition, it is vital to center our attention on the journey of Met analogs from feed bunk to ultimate site in the body. FATE OF HMBI IN THE RUMEN AND BEYOND Methionine additive used in the animal industry (Table 1) can be categorized into three different sources as DL-Met, DL-Met sodium salt and Met analog-based. Currently, there are 5 major DL-Met-based products, one DL-Met sodium salt-based and three Met analog-based categories available in the market. The Met analog-based additives are the hydroxy analog of Met (HMBA), the calcium salt of the Met hydroxy analog (HMBA-Ca) and HMBi. The HMBi escapes microbial degradation, unlike free methionine and 2-hydroxy-4-methylthiobutanoate (HMBA), due to rapid and effective absorption through the rumen wall (Graulet et al., 2004, 2005) and omasum (McCollum et al., 2000). In brief, absorbed HMBi is converted to HMBA and subsequently Met in peripheral tissues and transported to the mammary gland to contribute to milk protein yield (St-Pierre and Sylvester, 2005). Al-
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