TWO-COMPONENT ANIMAL FOOD COMPOSITION

Abstract

The present invention relates to animal-feed compositions comprising two components, an outer component, which completely encloses an inner component, is harder than the inner component and contains potato flour and at least one ingredient selected from a fat, a protein or a combination of the same.

Claims

1. An animal-feed composition comprising two components, an outer component which completely encloses an inner component, wherein the outer component contains potato flour and furthermore at least one ingredient selected from a fat, a protein or a combination of the same and is harder than the inner component.

2. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, wherein the inner component contains potato flour.

3. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the outer component is free from cereal constituents.

4. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the inner component is free from cereal constituents.

5. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that it is manufactured by co-extrusion of the inner component within the outer component.

6. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises a maximum dimension of 9 to 35 mm and a second maximum dimension of 7 to 25 mm.

7. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises a weight from 0.2 to 8 g per piece, preferably a weight from 0.35 to 5 g per piece.

8. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the outer component comprises a potato flour content of at least 10% by weight, preferably a potato flour content of at least 30% by weight, by further preference a potato flour content of at least 50% by weight, and the inner component comprises a potato flour content of at least 40% by weight, preferably a potato flour content of at least 45% by weight, by further preference a potato flour content of at least 50% by weight.

9. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the content by weight of the outer component is at least 40% by weight, preferably at least 60% by weight, by further preference at least 80% by weight, and the content of the inner component is at least 10% by weight, preferably at least 20% by weight, by further preference at least 25% by weight.

10. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the outer component comprises a total moisture content of less than 18% by weight, preferably a total moisture content of less than 15% by weight, by further preference a total moisture content of less than 12% by weight.

11. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the inner component contains a mixture of lipids and solid ingredients.

12. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the inner component comprises a water activity, a.sub.w, of less than 0.4, preferably a water activity, a.sub.w, of less than 0.3, by further preference of less than 0.2.

13. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the mixture of lipids and solids contains a lipid, which comprises a saturated or unsaturated, long-chained or medium-chained mono-, di-, or triacyl glycerol.

14. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the lipid content of the inner component is greater than 35% by weight, preferably greater than 50% by weight.

15. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the inner component further contains an ingredient which is selected from fats, proteins and combinations of the same.

16. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the inner component further contains an additional ingredient selected from nutritional or non-nutritional compounds, functional compounds, pharmaceutical compounds and mixtures of the same.

17. The animal-feed composition according to claim 16, characterised in that the nutritional compounds are selected from minerals, vitamins and mixtures of the same.

18. The animal-feed composition according to claim 16, characterised in that the non-nutritional compounds are selected from plant compounds, plant-based extracts and mixtures of the same.

19. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that the inner component further contains an additional ingredient selected from antioxidant ingredients, anti-inflammatory ingredients, pre-biotics and/or pro-biotics.

20. The animal-feed composition according to claim 1, characterised in that it can be manufactured by co-extrusion of the inner component with the outer component.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0082] In the following, the invention is described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show a preferred embodiment of the invention.

[0083] FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an animal-feed composition according to the present invention.

[0084] FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an animal-feed composition according to the present invention. 1 describes the harder, outer component of the animal-feed composition, which encloses the softer, inner component 2 of the animal-feed composition.

EXAMPLES

[0085] The examples should not be seen as restrictive for the invention.

Example 1

[0086] An animal-feed composition according to the invention comprises the following components:

TABLE-US-00001 Outer Inner Total [%] component [%] component [%] Potato protein 14 17.5 Potato flour 23 28.75 48 Cereal-free filling 20 Poultry-meat powder 26 32.5 Poultry-meat hydrolysate 5 6.25 Poultry fat 5 6.25 50 Lignocellulose 4 5 Milk powder 2.5 3.125 2 Vitamins 0.3 0.375 Minerals 0.2 0.25 Total 100 100 100

Example 2

[0087] The following example visualises the increased acceptance and palatability of an animal-feed composition according to the present invention.

[0088] The feed performance and feed preference of an animal-feed composition according to the present invention based on potato flour was investigated by comparison with a comparable, cereal-based product in cats (n=20) of different age groups (age: 1 to 9 years). Test methods for determining feed performance and feed preference are well-known to the person skilled in the art in the field of animal nutrition.

[0089] The feed preference test showed that 85% of the cats preferred the animal-feed composition according to the present invention, comprising two components of which both components are based on potato flour and, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an outer component 1 forms a skin around an inner component 2, while 15% of the cats preferred the conventional cereal-based animal feed.

Example 3

[0090] In the following example, it was tested whether cats prefer the animal-feed composition according to the invention without cereal ingredients by comparison with cereal-containing animal-feed composition.

[0091] The feed performance and feed preference of an animal-feed composition according to the present invention based on potato flour was investigated by comparison with a comparable, cereal-based product in cats (n=20) of different age groups (age: 1 to 9 years). Test methods for determining feed performance and feed preference are well-known to the person skilled in the art in the field of animal nutrition.

[0092] The feed preference test showed that 60% of the cats preferred the animal-feed composition according to the present invention, comprising two components of which both components are based on potato flour and, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an outer component 1 forms a skin around an inner component 2, while 40% of the cats preferred the conventional cereal-based animal feed.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0093] 1 Outer component of the animal-feed composition [0094] 2 Inner component of the animal-feed composition