Introduction to the use of common additives in pet food

The purpose of adding: to improve the nutritional value of pet food, improve the utilization rate, and promote animal production; improve the physical properties of pet food, increase the storability; enhance animal health and improve product quality.

Including: nutritional additives and non-nutritive additives.

nutritional additives

Small or trace substances added to pet food to balance nutrients, improve utilization, and directly exert nutritional effects on animals, mainly including amino acids, vitamins, trace minerals and other nutritional additives.

1. Amino Acids

As an effective means to improve the utilization rate of dietary protein, the addition of amino acids is the largest type of additive in the formula. Commonly used amino acids for pets are methionine, arginine and lysine, and taurine is widely used in cat food.

Amino acids are the main components of protein synthesis in animals, and the main function of adding amino acids is to make up for the lack of amino acids and to make full use of other amino acids.

2. Vitamin additives

Vitamins are the most commonly used and most important class of additives. Among various vitamin additives, choline chloride, vitamin A, vitamin E and niacin account for the largest proportion. There are many types of vitamin additives, which can be divided into fat-soluble and water-soluble according to their solubility, usually need to add vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin B2, niacin, pantothenic acid, choline chloride and vitamin B12 .

3. Trace element additives

The trace elements needed by animals mainly include iron, copper, zinc, manganese, iodine and selenium. In addition to providing essential nutrients for animals, these trace elements can also activate or inhibit certain vitamins, hormones and enzymes, which are essential for ensuring the normal functioning of animals. Physiological function and material metabolism play an extremely important role, with functions such as regulating body metabolism, promoting growth and development, and enhancing disease resistance.

Commonly used trace element additives are potassium chloride, ferric sulfate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, potassium iodide, sodium selenite, etc.

4. Enzyme preparation

Enzyme preparation refers to an additive made of one or more enzymes, carriers and diluents produced by biotechnology using a certain production process. It can improve animal digestion, improve digestibility and nutrient utilization, and transform and eliminate feed. anti-nutritional factors in and make full use of new resources.

Including protease, amylase, lipase, cellulase, xylanase, beta-glycanase, mannanase, phytase. Common enzymes in pets are protease, lipase and amylase.

5. Probiotics

Commonly used probiotics are Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Streptococcus faecalis

bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus lactis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae,

Candida utilis et al.

Most pet probiotics contain various types of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, etc.

Probiotics, compound preparations are more effective than single bacterial preparations.

Condition: The bacteria can tolerate an acidic environment, tolerate bile salts, and can adhere to

In the intestinal epithelial cells of dogs, it can produce substances similar to bacteriocin.

How to use: In order to prevent inactivation, the post-spraying process is generally used; in order to ensure a sufficient number of viable bacteria, stable and continuous addition is required.

6. Other

Including some substances that can protect and promote animal gut health and bone health,

For example, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, oligosaccharides, tea polyphenols, yucca extract, etc.

There are other types of pet food additives, which I will introduce to you in the next article. So that everyone can provide help when choosing food for pets

There are other types of pet food additives, which I will introduce to you in the next article. So that when we usually choose food for pets, we can help pets choose pet food with suitable additives. Ensure the healthy growth of pets