PET Food Processing - June 2019 - 29

INGREDIENTS

defining

and

CHELATION
ENCAPSULATION

Two unique processes each with the ability to deliver
key nutrition in support of overall pet health.
By Jennifer Barnett Fox | petfoodprocessing@sosland.com

Pet food processors are responsible for formulating
product that provides complete and balanced nutrition. They must approach formulation with a thorough
knowledge of nutrient requirements, nutrient concentrations in dietary ingredients, and an understanding
of the bioavailability of those nutrients. Chelation and
encapsulation are two separate techniques for delivering
nutrients in pet food formulations that help processors
meet nutritional requirements.

Chelation
A mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic compound.
Minerals are critical building blocks that make up muscles,
tissues and bone and benefit hormones, oxygen transport
and enzyme systems. Plants and animals do not produce
minerals, but minerals can be absorbed by plants. Chelated
minerals can be used to provide the mineral nutritional
needs or requirements in a complete pet food.
Chelated minerals are a chemical reaction between a
mineral and an organic molecule called a ligand. In this
reaction, the mineral bonds to the ligand in two sites that
results in a chemical ring structure of various atoms called
a heterocyclic ring. The bonds are typically coordinate
covalent on one of the attachment points. In pet food formulations, the ligands are typically amino acids derived
from the chemical synthesis or hydrolysis of proteins.
"Imagine chelation as a basketball held with both
hands," says Dana Tomlinson, Ph.D., global species

leader-specialty, Zinpro Performance Minerals, Eden
Prairie, Minnesota. "The mineral is 'held' in place by an
amino acid with the carboxyl and amino groups on its
end serving as the hands to hold a metal. This creates a
tight, chemically stable bond."
Most of the nutritionally relevant minerals are
offered as chelates. This includes zinc, copper, iron and
manganese. Magnesium, selenium and calcium can also
be chelated, but sodium and potassium cannot. If a chelate is properly formed, the mineral is bonded to the ligand and limits interaction with other nutrients which
allows the mineral to remain bioavailable. Inorganic
mineral sources can be ineffective because they don't
have those limits, according to Stephen Ashmead,
research fellow, minerals, Balchem Corp., New
Hampton, New York.
Minerals made organically are more closely aligned with the needs of the body. Tomlinson
explains that in this instance organic has a different
meaning than organic in the food industry. Organic
minerals are complexed, or bound, with amino acids and
minerals. Inorganic minerals are rocks mined or taken
out of the soil and used in feeds and chemistry. Generally,
chelated or organic minerals pose lower risks of toxicity
or illness due to poisoning compared to inorganic metal
supplements, which are more likely to create imbalances
and predispose an animal to toxicosis because it is absorbed by a completely different mechanism, he adds.

Pet food can deliver
probiotics through
encapsulation, which
protects the nutrient
until it enters the
gastrointestinal tract
where it dissolves
and becomes active.
Maxx Performance

www.petfoodprocessing.net | June 2019 | PET FOOD PROCESSING

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PET Food Processing - June 2019

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