ARTICLE FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE November 2025 73 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 6 18 12 24 TMR Incubation Time (hr) Choline Chloride Remaning (% of original) ReaShure ReaShure-XC A B C Figure 3. TMR stability of commercially available rumen protected choline products Estes et al., 2024b DURABILITY Durability is the ability of an encapsulated nutrient to withstand the rigors of mixing, transportation and storage, as well as the moisture and acidity of total mixed rations (TMR). Abrasion of the protective coating, cracking, fracturing or particle size reduction can all reduce the amount of nutrient delivered to the animal and even render a product ineffective. Mix Stability Minerals are one of the most physically abrasive environments for an encapsulate to be mixed in due to the rough particle shape and hardness of key minerals such as limestone and salt. Excessive mixing can crack, fracture and otherwise damage the coating of the encapsulate. Limiting mixing time and adding encapsulates as late as possible into the mixer (as one of the final ingredients) can help to minimize unnecessary abrasion. Feed Stability Research evaluating the TMR stability of both rumen protected lysine and choline products show vast differences in stability across several commercially available products with differing encapsulation technologies (Figures 2 & 3). The significant loss in TMR stability of some of these products illustrates that not all encapsulation technologies are able to sufficiently protect the nutrient from moisture, acidity and microbes in the TMR. These findings highlight that TMR stability must be accounted for as damage to the protective coating of these products may occur prior to consumption by the cow, potentially reducing the efficacy of the encapsulates. True Encapsulation Matrix Encapsulation Target nutrient Discrete layers of lipid Target nutrient Lipid matrix Figure 1. Illustration showing the differences between matrix encapsulation and a true encapsulation 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 6 18 12 24 Lysine Stability (%) TMR Incubation Time (hr) AminoShure-XL A B C D E Figure 2. TMR stability of commercially available rumen protected lysine products Estes et al., 2024a
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