COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING NITROGEN UTILIZATION IN A RUMINANT

Abstract

The present invention relates to a composition for feeding a ruminant comprising i) a non-protein nitrogen compound, and ii) a coating surrounding the non-protein nitrogen compound, wherein said coating comprises one or more layers of a mixture of a saturated fat and a fatty acid, and said coating comprises from 60 wt.-%+/10% to 85 wt.-%+/10% of the saturated fat, e.g. hydrogenated fat, and from 15 wt.-%+/10% to 40 wt.-%+/10% of the fatty acid, each based on the total weight of the coating; a process for the preparation of said composition and its uses, e.g., for improving nitrogen utilization in a ruminant.

Claims

1. A composition for feeding a ruminant, the composition comprising: i) a non-protein nitrogen compound, and ii) a coating surrounding the non-protein nitrogen compound, wherein said coating comprises one or more layers of a mixture comprising a saturated fat and a fatty acid, and said coating comprises from 60 wt.-%+/10% to 85 wt.-%+/10% of the saturated fat and from 15 wt.-%+/10% to 40 wt.-%+/10% of the fatty acid, each based on a total weight of the coating.

2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises from 65 wt.-%+/10% to 85 wt.-%+/10% of the saturated fat and from 15 wt.-%+/10 to 35 wt.-%+/10% of the fatty acid.

3. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises from 5 wt.-%+/10% to 25 wt.-%+/10% of the coating, based on a total weight of the composition.

4. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises from 10 wt.-%+/10% to 20 wt.-%+/10% of the coating, based on a total weight of the composition.

5. The composition of claim 1, wherein the saturated fat comprises or consists of a hydrogenated vegetable oil.

6. The composition of claim 1, wherein the saturated fat comprises or consists of a hydrogenated palm oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, and/or hydrogenated rapeseed oil.

7. The composition of claim 1, wherein the fatty acid comprises or consists of a C.sub.14 to C.sub.22 carboxylic acid.

8. The composition of claim 1, wherein the fatty acid comprises or consists of a saturated fatty acid.

9. The composition of claim 1, wherein the fatty acid comprises or consists of optionally substituted palmitic acid, oleic acid, and/or stearic acid.

10. The composition of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises at least two layers, wherein each of the at least two layers has a different composition of the mixture.

11. The composition of claim 10, wherein the coating comprises a first layer and a second layer, wherein the first layer comprises from 60 wt.-%+/10% to 90 wt.-%+/10% of the saturated fat and from 10 wt.-%+/10% to 40 wt.-%+/10% of the fatty acid, based on a weight of the first layer, and the second layer comprises from 60 wt.-%+/10% to 99 wt.-%10% of the saturated fat and from 1 wt.-%+/10% to 40 wt.-%+/10% of the fatty acid, based on a weight of the second layer.

12. The composition of claim 10, wherein the coating comprises a first layer and a second layer, wherein the first layer comprises from 60 wt.-%+/10% to 70 wt.-%+/10% of the saturated fat and from 30 wt.-%+/10% to 40 wt.-%+/10% of the fatty acid, based on a weight of the first layer, and the second layer comprises from 75 wt.-%+/10% to 90 wt.-%+/10% of the saturated fat and from 10 wt.-%+/10% to 25 wt.-%+/10% of the fatty acid, based on a weight of the second layer.

13. The composition of claim 9, wherein a first layer surrounding the non-protein nitrogen compound has a higher amount of the mixture than a second or any further layer surrounding the first or any additional layer.

14. A feed, feed material, premix or feed additive for feeding a ruminant, the feed, feed material, premix or feed additive comprising the composition of claim 1.

15. A process for preparing the composition of claim 1, the process comprising: a) providing particles comprising or consisting of a non-protein nitrogen compound in a drum coater, b) providing a mixture comprising comprising from 60 wt.-%+/10% to 85 wt.-% +/10% of a saturated fat and from 15 wt.-%+/10% to 40 wt.-%+/10% of a fatty acid, each based on a total weight of the mixture, in a reservoir outside the drum coater, c) heating the particles of a) to a temperature in a range of from 20 C. below a lower melting point of the mixture b) to an upper melting point of the mixture of b), d) heating the mixture of b) to a temperature in a range of from the upper melting point of the mixture of b) to 20 C. above the upper melting point of the mixture of b), to obtain a heated mixture, e) applying the heated mixture of d) onto the particles of c) in a rotating drum coater, to obtain a bed of particles, f) maintaining a temperature of the bed of particles obtained in e) at a temperature in a range of from 20 C. below the lower melting point of the mixture of b) to the lower melting point of the mixture of b), to obtain a composition, and g) cooling the composition obtained from f) or allowing the composition obtained from f) to cool, to obtain a cooled composition, wherein, if the composition to be prepared has at least two or more layers, c) to f) or c) to g) are repeated with the composition obtained from f) or the cooled composition obtained from g).

Description

EXAMPLES

I. General Procedure for Preparing Coated NPN Compositions in a Drum Coater

[0175] Urea comprising compositions were prepared using a drum coater, equipped with a drop lance for addition of a molten saturated fat, e.g. hydrogenated vegetable oil or molten fat or molten mixture of a hydrogenated vegetable oil with a fatty acid to a bed of urea prills. The drum coater had a diameter of about 350 mm and a width of about 190 mm. The width of the used bed was about 120 mm and the inflow area in which hot air was blown into the particle bed (inflow area), in order to heat the urea prills to a desired temperature, had a width of about 100 mm.

[0176] The drum coater was filled with 400 g of prilled urea having a particle size of from 1.8 to 2.4 mm. The interior of the drum coater was heated up with hot air until the bed of urea prills had a temperature between 20 C. below the lower melting temperature and the lower melting temperature of the molten hydrogenated vegetable oil or molten fat or molten mixture of a hydrogenated vegetable oil with a fatty acid. A hydrogenated vegetable oil or fat or a mixture of a hydrogenated vegetable oil with a fatty acid was placed in a double-walled vessel, equipped with a heater, outside of the drum coater, then melted and heated to a temperature between its upper melting temperature and 20 C. above its upper melting temperature. The molten hydrogenated vegetable oil or molten fat or molten mixture of a hydrogenated vegetable oil with a fatty acid was pumped from the double-walled vessel through an electrically heated pipe into the drop lance. The molten hydrogenated vegetable oil or molten fat or molten mixture of a hydrogenated vegetable oil with a fatty acid was dropped from the drop lance onto the bed of prilled urea over a period of approximately 12 minutes at a radial speed of the stirrer of 32 meters per minute. During the addition of the molten hydrogenated vegetable oil or molten fat or molten mixture of a hydrogenated vegetable oil with a fatty acid, the temperature of the bed of prilled urea was kept at a temperature between 20 C. below the lower melting temperature and the lower melting temperature of the hydrogenated vegetable oil or fat or mixture of a hydrogenated vegetable oil with a fatty acid. The temperature of the bed of prilled urea was determined by means of a thermal imaging camera, which was directed onto the center of the bed of prilled urea. During the coating the bed of particles was tacky and the coating layer(s) was/were formed slowly over time. After addition of the hydrogenated vegetable oil or molten fat or the molten mixture of a hydrogenated vegetable oil with a fatty acid, the thus obtained bed of coated particles was allowed to cool down slowly. The obtained products were dust-free and had a surface, which was free of any cracks or holes. Therefore, the products appeared smooth and had a shiny surface. The products also consisted of particles of comparable size and they were free of any agglomerates or larger particles.

II. Preparation of Coated NPN Comprising Compositions

[0177] According to the general procedure for the preparation of coated NPN comprising compositions, a multitude of examples according to the present invention were prepared.

[0178] Table 2 summarizes the individual composition of each prepared one-layer product according to the present invention, indicated as 1L-01 to 1L-12.

[0179] Table 2 also summarizes the individual composition of the products of the comparative examples C-1L-01 to C-1L-08. The products of the comparative examples C-1L-01 to C-1L-02 are products according to the technical teaching of WO 2017/125140 A1 and the products of the comparative examples C-1L-01 to C-1L-02 are products according to US 2012/0093974 A1 and US 2010/0272852 A2.

[0180] Table 4 summarizes the individual composition of each prepared two-layer product according to the present invention, indicated as 2L-01 to 2L-20 and of comparative two-layer products not according to the present invention, indicated as C-2L-01 to C-2L-03.

Testing of the Products

[0181] The products of the examples 1L-01 to 1L-12 and 2L-01 to 2L-20 according to the present invention and the products of the comparative examples C-1L-01 to C-1L-08 and C-2L-01 to C-2L-03 not according to the present invention were subjected to in vitro tests to simulate the ruminal digestion, in particular to simulate the release rates of urea in the three different compartments rumen, abomasum and small intestine of the ruminal digestive tract. For this purpose the tests were performed in a three-step incubation procedure: in the first step the conditions in the rumen were simulated by use of the McDougall's buffer, in the second step the conditions in the abomasum were simulated by use of hydrochloric acid and pepsin, and in the third step the conditions of the small intestine were simulated by use of pancreatin and a suitable buffer to adjust a pH of 8. The in vitro tests were performed according to the following procedure:

[0182] For the preparation of the McDougall's buffer the following substances were weighed into a 10 liters bottle:

TABLE-US-00003 NaHCO.sub.3 98 g (1.17 mol) Na.sub.2HPO.sub.42 H.sub.2O 46.3 g (0.26 mol).sup. NaCl 4.7 g (0.08 mol) KCl 5.7 g (0.08 mol) CaCl.sub.22 H.sub.2O 0.4 g (2.7 mmol) MgCl.sub.2 6 H.sub.2O 0.6 g (3.0 mmol)
250 mL of the McDougall's buffer solution were filled into a 1000 mL Schott flask. 5 grams of the test substance, i.e. any of the compositions mentioned above were added, and the flasks were shaken at 100 rotations per minute in a lab shaker (Innova 40, New Brunswick Scientific) at 39 C. After 6 hours, the flask content was filtered off carefully, washed with 50 mL of cold water and directly transferred to the second flask containing 250 mL concentrated hydrochloric acid with pH 2 and a small amount of pepsin. After 2 hours incubation time at 39 C., the product was again filtered off carefully, washed with 50 mL of cold water and subsequently transferred to a third flask containing freshly prepared solution containing 14.4 mg tri(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, 56.2 mg NaCl, 231 mg phosphatidylcholin, 60 mg Triton-X-100, 240 mg Na taurocholate, 300 mg CaCl.sub.22 H.sub.2O and 120 mg pancreatin (8 USP lipase units/mg). After shaking for 24 hours, the product was filtered off, washed again with cold water and dried at 40 C. overnight. The residual product was weighted after each of steps 1 and 3 and the weight loss was considered to be loss in urea. The calculation of the ruminal urea release fraction was done with the following formula:

Ruminal urea release fraction=((initial amount of urea [g]residual amount of urea after the 1.sup.st step of the McDougall method [g])/(initial amount of urea [g]))100%.

Example: initial amount of urea=5.0 g

residual amount of urea after the 1.sup.st step=4.2 g

Ruminal urea release fraction [%]=((5.0 g4.2 g)/(5.0 g))100%=16%

[0183] The rumen protected (RP) urea fraction is obtained using the following formula:

RP(urea)[%]=100%ruminal urea release fraction [%]

Example: ruminal urea release fraction [%]=16%

RP(urea) [%]=100%16%=84%

[0184] The term total digestible NPN fraction [%] is used to denote the percentage of the initial amount of NPN [g] that is subject to digestion in all steps of the McDougall method. It can be calculated with the following formula:

Total digestible NPN fraction [%]=((initial amount of NPN [g]residual amount of NPN after the 3.sup.rd step of McDougall method [g])/(initial amount of NPN [g]))100%.

Example: initial amount of NPN=5.0 g

residual amount of NPN after 3.sup.rd step=0.5 g

Total digestible NPN fraction [%]=((5.0 g0.5 g)/(5.0 g))100%=90%

[0185] The total digestible NPN fraction [g/kg]can be calculated by using the equation:

Total digestible NPN fraction [g/kg]=total digestible NPN fraction [%]*weight fraction of NPN in product [g/kg].

[0186] The term post-ruminally released (PRR) NPN is used to denote the fraction of NPN in grams per kg that has been released from the tested composition in the abomasum and small intestine of the ruminant. Accordingly, the term post-ruminally released urea is the fraction of NPN in grams per kg that has been released post-ruminally from the tested composition. It can be calculated according to the formula:

PRR(NPN) [g/kg]=total digestible NPN fraction [g/kg](1000RP(NPN [g/kg])) or

PRR(NPN) [g/kg]=total digestible NPN fraction [g/kg]ruminally released NPN fraction [g/kg].

[0187] The total digestible NPN fraction [g/kg] is the difference of the initial amount of NPN [g/kg] and the residual amount of NPN after the 3.sup.rd step of the McDougall method [g/kg]. The RP(NPN) [g/kg] is the residual amount of NPN [g/kg] after the 1.sup.st step of the McDougall method. The ruminally released NPN fraction [g/kg] is the amount of NPN released in the 1.sup.st step of the McDougall method.

[0188] In order to generalize the results for all possible non-protein nitrogen compounds, the values obtained for the post-ruminally released urea PR(Urea) were converted into the post-ruminally released nitrogen PRR(N) using the following formula

PRR(N) [g/kg]=PR(urea [g/kg])*28/60

[0189] Table 3 summarizes the test results for the one-layer products of the examples 1L-01 to 1L-12 according to the present invention, indicated as T-1L-01 to T-1L-12, and the test results for the products of the comparative examples C-1L-01 to C-1L-08 not according to the present invention, indicated as CT-C-1L-01 to CT-C-1L-08. Table 5 summarizes the test results for the two-layer products of the examples 2L-01 to 2L-20 according to the present invention, indicated as T-2L-01 to T-2L-20, and the test results for the products of the comparative examples C-2L-01 to C-2L-03 not according to the present invention, indicated as CT-C-2L-01 to CT-C-2L-03.

IV. Discussion

[0190] The products of the examples 1L-01 to 1L-12 and 2L-01 to 2L-20 provided for a high rumen protected urea fraction as well as a high, useful total digestible urea fraction. This allows to provide the ruminant with high amounts of post-ruminally released urea and nitrogen. Thus, the compositions according to the present invention lead to the desired effect of improving the nitrogen utilization from a non-protein nitrogen compound in a ruminant.

[0191] By comparison, the products of the comparative examples C-1L-01 to C-1L-08 and C-2L-01 to C-2L-03 only provided for a low total digestible urea fraction. Therefore, these products could not provide the ruminant with high amounts of post-ruminally released urea and nitrogen. Consequently, the products of the comparative examples C-1L-01 to C-1L-08 and C-2L-01 to C-2L-03 did not lead to the desired effect of improving the nitrogen utilization from a non-protein nitrogen compound in a ruminant.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 2 Summary of the prepared one-layer products (HRO = hydrogenated rapeseed oil, HPO = hydrogenated palm oil, SA = stearic acid, OA = oleic acid, AA = arachidic acid). Total coating Total hydrog. Fatty acid coating layer fraction in fat in in Comp. Hydrog. Fatty hydrog. fat fatty acid composition composition composition no. fat acid [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] C-1L-01 HPO SA 100 0 23 23 0 C-1L-02 HRO SA 100 0 20 20 0 C-1L-03 HPO SA 99 1 20 19.8 0.2 C-1L-04 HPO SA 97 3 20 19.4 0.6 C-1L-05 HPO SA 95 5 20 19.0 1.0 C-1L-06 HRO OA 95 5 23 21.9 1.1 C-1L-07 HPO SA 90 10 20 18 2 C-1L-08 HRO AA 90 10 23 20.7 2.3 1L-01 HRO SA 85 15 20 17 3 1L-02 HPO SA 85 15 15 12.8 2.3 1L-03 HRO SA 80 20 20 16 4 1L-04 HPO SA 80 20 15 12 3 1L-05 HPO SA 80 20 10 8 2 1L-06 HRO SA 78 22 15 11.7 3.3 1L-07 HPO SA 75 25 15 11.3 3.8 1L-08 HPO SA 75 25 10 7.5 2.5 1L-09 HPO SA 70 30 15 10.5 4.5 1L-10 HPO SA 70 30 10 7 3 1L-11 HPO SA 66 34 10 6.6 3.4 1L-12 HRO SA 60 40 20 12 8

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 3 Summary of the test results for the prepared one-layer products Rumen protected Total digestible Post-ruminally Post-ruminally urea fraction urea fraction released urea released nitrogen Exp. no. Comp. No. [%] [%] [g/kg] [g/kg] CT-C-1L-01 C-1L-01 99.3 5.1 39 18 CT-C-1L-02 C-1L-02 44.5 83.1 296 138 CT-C-1L-03 C-1L-03 54.2 70.9 308 143 CT-C-1L-04 C-1L-04 56.1 71.9 323 150 CT-C-1L-05 C-1L-05 53.5 73.1 313 145 CT-C-1L-06 C-1L-06 77.3 53.1 318 148 CT-C-1L-07 C-1L-07 52.5 76.9 323 150 CT-C-1L-08 C-1L-08 99.0 32.0 243 113 T-1L-01 1L-01 91.2 77.0 562 261 T-1L-02 1L-02 54.3 88.9 410 191 T-1L-03 1L-03 87.1 82.0 571 266 T-1L-04 1L-04 98.7 71.1 597 277 T-1L-05 1L-05 95.1 95.6 818 380 T-1L-06 1L-06 47.2 100 401 187 T-1L-07 1L-07 72.0 61.3 375 174 T-1L-08 1L-08 98-1 93.9 829 386 T-1L-09 1L-09 60.8 67.5 349 162 T-1L-10 1L-10 91.0 98.4 806 375 T-1L-11 1L-11 64.4 100 580 270 T-1L-12 1L-12 68.7 100 549 255

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 4 Summary of the prepared two-layer products (HPO = hydrogenated palm oil, SA = stearic acid). The term coating fraction gives the weight percent of the coating, including 1.sup.st and 2.sup.nd layer, based on the total weight of the product. The coating of E2L-09* was covered with additional 0.7% CaCO3, coating of E2L-13* was covered with additional 1.36% CaCO3, coating of E2L-15* was covered with additional 1.38% CaCO3, and coating of E2L-16* was covered with additional 1.06% CaCO3. 1st coating layer 2nd coating layer Total coating Total hydr. Fatty acid Hydro- amount hydrog. fatty amount in hydrog. fatty fraction fat in comp. in comp. Comp. genated Fatty in comp. fat acid comp. fat acid in comp. (all layers) (all layers) no. fat acid [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] [wt.-%] C-2L-01 HPO SA 12 100 0 4 75 25 16 15 (93.8) 1 (6.2) C-2L-02 HPO SA 15 80 20 1 100 0 16 13 (81.2) 3 (18.8) C-2L-03 HPO SA 6 30 70 4 75 25 10 4.8 (48) 5.2 (52) 2L-01 HPO SA 15 80 20 2 90 10 17 13.8 (81.2) 3.2 (18.8) 2L-02 HPO SA 15 80 20 4 90 10 19 15.6 (82.1) 3.4 (17.9) 2L-03 HPO SA 15 80 20 1 90 10 16 12.9 (80.6) 3.1 (19.4) 2L-04 HPO SA 13 85 15 2 95 5 15 12.9 (86) 2.1 (14) 2L-05 HPO SA 14 80 20 6 90 10 20 16.6 (83) 3.4 (17) 2L-06 HPO SA 14 80 20 6 95 5 20 16.9 (84.5) 3.1 (15.5) 2L-07 HPO SA 14 75 25 4 95 5 18 14.3 (79.4) 3.7 (20.6) 2L-08 HPO SA 14 70 30 4 97 3 18 13.7 (76.1) 4.3 (23.9) 2L-09* HPO SA 14 70 30 4 97 3 18 13.7 (76.1) 4.3 (23.9) 2L-10 HPO SA 14 60 40 6 95 5 20 14.1 (70.5) 5.9 (29.5) 2L-11 HPO SA 15 80 20 1 90 10 16 12.9 (80.6) 3.1 (19.4) 2L-12 HPO SA 10 80 20 4 70 30 14 10.8 (77.1) 3.2 (22.9) 2L-13* HPO SA 10 80 20 4 70 30 14 10.8 (77.1) 3.2 (22.9) 2L-14 HPO SA 10 80 20 4 60 40 14 10.4 (74.3) 3.6 (25.7) 2L-15* HPO SA 10 80 20 4 60 40 14 10.4 (74.3) 3.6 (25.7) 2L-16* HPO SA 6 60 40 4 75 25 10 6.6 (66) 3.4 (34) 2L-17 HPO SA 6 60 40 4 75 25 10 6.6 (66) 3.4 (34) 2L-18 HPO SA 8 60 40 2 90 10 10 6.6 (66) 3.4 (34) 2L-19 HPO SA 8 60 40 2 75 25 10 6.3 (63) 3.7 (37) 2L-20 HPO SA 8 70 30 2 90 10 10 7.4 (74) 2.6 (26)

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 5 Summary of the test results for the prepared two-layer products Rumen protected Total digestible Post-ruminally Post-ruminally urea fraction urea fraction released urea released nitrogen Exp. No. Comp. No. [%] [%] [g/kg] [g/kg] CT-C-2L-01 C-2L-01 0 100 0 0 CT-C-2L-02 C-2L-02 98.4 23.7 196 91 CT-C-2L-03 C-2L-03 10.6 100 95 44 T-2L-01 2L-01 57.6 84.6 404 188 T-2L-02 2L-02 99.4 76.5 616 286 T-2L-03 2L-03 55.3 90.8 422 196 T-2L-04 2L-04 54.1 90.2 415 193 T-2L-05 2L-05 77.7 72.6 451 210 T-2L-06 2L-06 82.5 63.0 416 193 T-2L-07 2L-07 70.4 69.9 403 188 T-2L-08 2L-08 81.8 60.2 404 188 T-2L-09 2L-09* 85.4 68.2 478 222 T-2L-10 2L-10 83.6 63.0 422 196 T-2L-11 2L-11 72.2 66.7 404 188 T-2L-12 2L-12 78.1 69.7 468 218 T-2L-13 2L-13* 80.6 61.1 424 197 T-2L-14 2L-14 58.1 81.3 406 189 T-2L-15 2L-15* 64.1 75.9 418 194 T-2L-16 2L-16* 95.1 100.0 856 398 T-2L-17 2L-17 82.4 95.6 709 330 T-2L-18 2L-18 91.6 97.8 806 375 T-2L-19 2L-19 85.4 93.2 737 343 T-2L-20 2L-20 91.9 97.0 802 373