One of problems is to provide a feed composition having both immunostimulatory action and mold toxin adsorbing action. Another one of the problems is to provide a technique for minimizing decomposition of a feed composition made using yeast. Yet another one of the problems is to provide a method of inexpensively manufacturing the above-mentioned feed composition.

The feed composition is obtained by inclusion of nucleic acid having molecular weights ranging from 5,000 to 100,000, a yeast cell wall component/yeast cell wall components, and ligno sulfonic acid. A feed composition may be manufactured by supplying nucleic acid and a yeast cell wall component that are both derived from a raw material, yeast. To supply the nucleic acid and a yeast cell wall component/yeast cell wall components from the yeast, the yeast may be subjected to alkaline treatment to prepare the nucleic acid and enucleated yeast.

The present invention relates to a food composition comprising lignin as a food additive, to a food composition comprising an additive composition which in turn comprises lignin, to an additive composition comprising lignin, as well as to the uses of lignin and the additive composition.

Also disclosed are benefits of the food composition comprising lignin or comprising an additive composition comprising lignin for animals as well as for products derived thereof.

The present invention relates to a food composition comprising lignin as a food additive, to a food composition comprising an additive composition which in turn comprises lignin, to an additive composition comprising lignin, as well as to the uses of lignin and the additive composition.

Also disclosed are benefits of the food composition comprising lignin or comprising an additive composition comprising lignin for animals as well as for products derived thereof.

An apparatus for steam treating plant fibres is provided, the apparatus comprising: a steam manifold that is adapted to receive steam from a steam source and to distribute steam to a plurality of lances, the lances being configured to deliver steam into the interior volume of a batch of plant fibres; a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the batch of plant fibres, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive a signal from the temperature sensor, and to control the supply of steam to the lances to raise the temperature of the plant fibres to a target temperature. A method of steaming plant fibres is also provided.

An apparatus for steam treating plant fibres is provided, the apparatus comprising: a steam manifold that is adapted to receive steam from a steam source and to distribute steam to a plurality of lances, the lances being configured to deliver steam into the interior volume of a batch of plant fibres; a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the batch of plant fibres, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive a signal from the temperature sensor, and to control the supply of steam to the lances to raise the temperature of the plant fibres to a target temperature. A method of steaming plant fibres is also provided.

According to an example aspect of the present invention, there is provided an animal feed additive, which contains lignin-containing microcellulose, especially lignin-containing microcrystalline cellulose, for improving feed conversion rates of production animals, such as poultry.

Reactor assemblies and methods for hydrolytic biomass conversion are disclosed herein. The reactor assemblies employ solely hydrostatic pressure, applied by the liquid biomass slurry, as means of providing pressure necessary to maintain high temperature conditions suitable for hydrolytic biomass conversion resulting in the formation of soluble pentose compounds. In embodiments, the methods employed in conjunction with the reactor assemblies yield soluble C.sub.5 carbohydrates in the forms of oligosaccharides and monosaccharides from one or more biomass slurries.

In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to a method of hydrolyzing a polysaccharide to obtain the corresponding saccharides using an amino acid solution. In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a method of using an amino acid salt such as hydrogen glycine in a solution to obtain a monosaccharide such as glucose, xylose, or fructose.

In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to a method of hydrolyzing a polysaccharide to obtain the corresponding saccharides using an amino acid solution. In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a method of using an amino acid salt such as hydrogen glycine in a solution to obtain a monosaccharide such as glucose, xylose, or fructose.

The present application pertains to a process for the decomposition of biomass-material.