ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE April 2024 33 "Historically, moisture management technology was a simple concept. A typical moisture management product would have surfactants and organic acids, with little innovation and development in this area. Devenish Nutrition Limited in partnership with Perstorp Animal Nutrition developed the applications for propionic acid esterified to glycerol technology to create a new generation moisture management product called SmartMoisture®." Grain will lose or gain moisture depending on the environment it finds itself in. This is known as equilibrium moisture content (EMC). EMC, as well as feed milling processing, has an impact on the moisture levels of raw materials used by feed mills during storage and feed production. Globally, between 1-3% of animal feed is lost during the milling process, which equates to approximately 30 million tonnes of feed wasted each year. Optimising moisture content in feed is key to ensuring safe, consistent, high-quality animal feed. Water or moisture, whether natural or added into feed, is an important feed ingredient. It is part of the nutritional specification and should be utilised by the nutritionist to create a balanced feed. Sufficient moisture in mash feeds improves steam uptake in the conditioner which leads to better particle adhesion, heat transfer, starch gelatinisation and, ultimately, better pellet quality. It is, however, important to ensure moisture is bound to feed particles and not free to create an environment where microbes can flourish. SOLUTIONS FOR MOISTURE MANAGEMENT Historically, moisture management technology was a simple concept. A typical moisture management product would have surfactants and organic acids, with little innovation and development in this area. The surfactant had the role of breaking water tension and allowing water droplets to spread across the feed to get more contact with feed particles, while the propionic acid inhibits moulds and yeast. Perstorp Animal Nutrition were the first to introduce esters of organic acids for mould inhibition in grains, feed and feed raw materials. These molecules were so new that they were the first to assess them in any agricultural process. The covalent bond of the propionic acid esterified to glycerol proved to be more stable and less corrosive than the salts of propionic acids. As a mould inhibitor, these products offer longer retention of propionic acids in feedstuffs. MANAGEMENT OF MOISTURE CONTENT IN FEED PRODUCTION Janus Fouche SmartMoisture® Product Manager Devenish Nutrition
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