How to choose feed sweetener

Feed sweeteners are food additives that can give feed a sweet taste. There are many types of feed sweeteners, usually including three categories: sugar alcohol sweeteners, non-sugar natural sweeteners and artificial synthetic sweeteners. In feed factories, commonly used sweeteners include sucrose, glucose, neotame, maltose, etc. Among them, artificial compound sweeteners are more commonly used due to their high sweetness, no aftertaste, and small addition amount.

The role of feed sweeteners

Feed sweeteners have multiple functions in animal production. First, they can increase feed intake by stimulating the taste buds of livestock and promoting the secretion of digestive juices and various digestive enzymes in the digestive tract, thereby improving the digestion, absorption and utilization of feed. Secondly, they can mask the bad smell in the feed and improve the palatability of the feed, especially when the freshness of the feed raw materials is reduced or other substances that may bring bad taste are added. In addition, feed sweeteners can also help ensure the feed intake of young animals under stress and reduce mortality. Finally, it can also help develop feed resources, increase the amount of special feed raw materials, and reduce the production cost of feed.

When selecting a feed sweetener, a variety of factors should be considered to ensure its effectiveness, safety, and suitability for animals.

01 .Sweetness and taste

Sweetness is an important criterion for measuring the effect of sweeteners, and the sweetness of sucrose is usually used as a comparison object. The closer the sweetness produced by the sweetener is to sucrose, the better the feeding effect of livestock is usually. At the same time, the sweetness should last longer in the mouth to provide continuous stimulation to the animal during the feeding process. In addition, livestock have a special preference for the taste of sucrose, so the degree of closeness of the taste of the sweetener to sucrose is also an important consideration.

02. Solubility and homogeneity

Sweeteners should be easily soluble and can be quickly detected by taste buds in the saliva of the mouth. In addition, homogeneity is also important, that is, the uniformity of the mixing of sweeteners in the feed. If the sweetener particles and synergists separate during transportation and storage, or cannot be dissolved in the saliva of the animal at the same time, the taste quality and effect of the sweetener may be affected.

03.Stability and odor masking ability

The stability of sweeteners during production, storage and use is crucial. Volatilization losses should be avoided and other nutrients in the feed should not be affected. At the same time, sweeteners should have strong odor masking ability and can effectively mask the unpleasant odors produced by drugs or antioxidants added to the feed.