In today's animal feed production,
heat treatments like expanders and pelleting have found their way as a tool to
improve animal performance by improved feed technology. However, there are also
negative aspects to the use of high temperatures in feed processing such as
destruction of heat sensitive additives (like enzymes).
This has led to the development of
tools to apply heat sensitive compounds to the feed after the heat treatment
process, called post-pelleting liquid application (PPLA).
To feed the PPLA system with liquid
enzymes at the feed mill, enzyme manufacturers need to produce the enzyme as a
liquid, stabilise it by adding stabilising agents and conservatives, pack it in
1,000 litre Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) and transport it to the feed
mill where it is stored until the IBC is connected to the PPLA system for use.
This complete process requires a stable and cool environment to guarantee the
concentration of the enzymes in liquid form.
Working with liquid enzymes packed in IBCs has many downsides as enzymes in liquid form tend to be less stable than dry enzymes. An example of a stability study conducted with commercial available phytases on the market is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Different commercial
liquid phytases sold in IBCs show poor stability at 40oC indicating
the need for cooling
It can be seen that the enzyme
activity of liquid phytase (in an IBC) decreases by up to 50% when stored for
12 weeks at 40oC. Therefore, IBCs with liquid enzyme require a lot
of temperature controlled storage space and cooled transport. Next to this, the
manipulation of the IBCs at the feed mill poses extra labour costs, often
results in leakage or spillage, and takes up important stock inventory space.
Also the carbon footprint of this
way of supplying enzymes is greatly reduced compared to shipping liquid
enzymes.
WSP enzymes
The development by Huvepharma of
instant water soluble enzyme powders (WSP enzymes) has opened the way to
produce liquid enzymes freshly at the feed factory when needed.
With these WSP enzymes, liquid
enzymes can be tailor made at the feed mill in any desired amount and
concentration just prior to application with the PPLA.
For dissolving the WSP enzymes,
special equipment has been developed: the Huvematic which allows the
enzymes to be dissolved even in cold and hard water. The Huvematic weighs the
desired quantity of WSP enzymes and the required quantity of water very
accurately, and mixes them together so the liquid enzyme is produced at the
right concentration.
The Huvematic can run to produce two
enzymes at the same time (for example a phytase and an NSPase) and has enough
production capacity to serve multiple PPLA lines in the same feed mill.
The dry WSP enzymes are commercially
available under the brand names OptiPhos, Hostazym P and Hostazym X and are
packed in boxes containing four aluminium sealed bags of 5 kg each. One box
containing 4 x 5 kg of WSP enzymes can replace two or three 1,000 litre IBCs
filled with liquid enzymes.
This innovation by Huvepharma is now
well established, and is common practice for more than 5 years all over the
world including Europe, US, Middle East and Asian countries proving its
efficacy and operation security. Large broiler integrators have embraced the
technology to avoid the challenges and inconveniences related to using liquid
enzymes in IBCs (as described above), and were the pioneers of using this new
technology and WSP enzyme products. The concept was initially introduced for
using an in-line produced liquefied phytase (OptiPhos) and led to the
installation of Huvematic in multiple feed mills.
Following the success of the early
installations, Huvepharma extended the concept for the production and application
of liquefied NSPase (Hostazym X) using the same formulation technology
developed in their R&D laboratories. The concept of WSP enzymes is now
available and well established globally. Local (country) registrations of the
WSP enzyme were approved and collaboration with local companies to support
Huvepharma with the installation, maintenance and related technical support of
the Huvematic was established. The Huvepharma Global Industrial Service Manager
is constantly supporting and monitoring the factories using the new Huvematic
technology.
In hot and humid areas this concept
has been welcomed with high enthusiasm. The challenging conditions like high
temperatures and high humidity allowed the easy roll-out of the concept in
South Asia, Middle East, the Pacific region and South America, solving the
current difficulties with the IBCs regarding stability, activity and extra
labour.
|Source: Online/KSU
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