ISSUE FOCUS 34 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE April 2024 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®. Glycerol esters of propionic acid therefore help as stabilizers, keeping volatile propionic acid in the feed for longer periods. Meanwhile, surfactants reduce water tension, allowing moisture to spread more evenly across the feed particles. This combination helps to improve moisture content, enhance pellet quality, and inhibit the growth of molds and yeast, ultimately ensuring the production of safe and high-quality animal feed. Water activity is a clear indication of how well moisture is absorbed and how much space is left to absorb moisture. If a product can reduce the water activity in feed, it would mean that the moisture has been absorbed effectively. Water activity results should be considered when looking into the direction in which a moisture management program should go. The combination of the glycerol esters of propionic acid and surfactants demonstrated its efficacy to reduce water activity. When moisture levels increase, water activity will increase. Contrary to this, where moisture was added in a SmartMoisture® solution, the water activity was reduced. In graph 1 below, the striped bars represent the control samples and the solid bars represent feed that received 1%, 2% and 3% SmartMoisture®/water solution addition. With the addition of moisture, SmartMoisture® has had a noticeable effect on reducing water activity. Water Activity in Finished Feed 0.90 0.85 0.80 0.75 0.70 0.65 0.60 0.55 0.50 0.45 0.40 2% Moisture addition with 760gm/T 1.5% Moisture addition with 570gm/T Individual trials 1% Moisture addition with 380gm/T Aw Graph 1. Reducing water activity in finished feed. Striped bars = control, solid bars = SmartMoisture®
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