ENERGY PLUS

A nutritional emulsifier can be used to improve fat digestibility and thus improve the energy efficiency in animal diets. Due to its high energy density, fats and oils are important energy sources in feed formulation, but these raw materials also have a high cost. Improving the energy efficiency is of high interest from an economical point of view. This will result in a lower feed cost and contribute to a more economical and sustainable animal production.

An emulsifier is a molecule with a water soluble (hydrophilic) part and a fat soluble (lipophilic) part. The combination of these two characteristics in one molecule gives it the unique property that the emulsifier can dissolve as well in fat, as in water, and can aid in mixing the two fractions. Different types of emulsifiers are commercially available. When choosing an emulsifier the principal of Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance (HLB) is important. HLB gives a value to how fat or water soluble a product is. The scale ranges from 0 to 20. The lower the HLB, the more lipophilic or fat soluble the emulsifier becomes. The higher the HLB, the more water soluble or hydrophilic the emulsifier will be. Due to the fact that an animal consumes approximately twice as much water as feed, the intestine is a very watery environment. The goal of a nutritional emulsifier is to optimize the emulsification and micelle forming in the intestine and therefore an emulsifier with a high HLB is most preferred.

Availability can depend on region.