High-stability vitamin premix concentrate

01

Set the formula and avoid stressors in the premix

Yang and co-authors (China Agricultural University, Animals 9:1154, 2019) studied microencapsulated vitamins A, D3, E, K3, B1, B2, B6, niacin and pantothenic acid in premixes for weanling piglets. They note that choline chloride and copper and zinc — fed to piglets at pharmacological levels of 125–250 mg/kg copper (as copper sulfate) and 2,000–3,000 mg/kg zinc (as zinc oxide) — are stress agents for vitamin stability, and tested vitamin premixes with or without choline and vitamin-trace mineral (VTM) premixes with 0 or 40,000 mg/kg choline and low or high copper sulfate plus zinc oxide. [1]

They found vitamins D3, E, B2, B6, niacin and pantothenic acid highly stable, while A, K3 and B1 were significantly affected by storage time and by choline and high copper and zinc; K3 was very unstable. They conclude that current microencapsulation appears inadequate to guarantee A, K3 and B1 in VTM premixes, advise feed suppliers against producing premixes that contain both trace minerals and vitamins, and recommend shortening the time from premix production to feeding. [1]

A companion kinetics paper (Animal Bioscience 34:701, 2021) on the same premixes reports that choline and high copper and zinc significantly increased losses of A, K3, B1 and B2, that high copper and zinc lowered D3 and B6 in extended storage, and that the highest stability was in premixes with no choline or excess copper and zinc. [2]

Give the supplier the species and feed types, vitamin levels required per kilogram of finished feed, premix inclusion rate, carrier preference, whether choline and trace minerals are included or supplied separately, vitamin forms (for example microencapsulated or coated), expected storage time and conditions, overage policy, packaging, analysis certificates per batch, and the regulatory market for the feed.

02

Plan storage time, conditions and overage

In the 2019 study the vitamin premixes were stored at 25 °C and 60% humidity and the VTM premixes at 22 °C, sampled at 0, 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months; residual activity fell as storage time increased. After one year, E, B2, B6, niacin and pantothenic acid kept more than 90% of activity in both premix types, and D3 kept more than 90% in vitamin premixes and more than 80% in VTM premixes. The authors fitted equations to predict retention by storage time and suggest using vitamin content as an index of a premix's history. [1]

Editorial calculation: to deliver an assumed 100 mg/kg of a vitamin at feeding when the premix is expected to keep 90% of its activity over the planned storage time, formulate about 100 / 0.90 ≈ 111 mg/kg, an overage of about 11%; for vitamins that retain less, such as A, K3 and B1 in VTM premixes, the overage must be larger or the storage time shorter. [1]

Processing can cost more activity than premix storage. Galli and co-authors (UFRGS with BASF, Frontiers in Veterinary Science 11:1309754, 2024) followed a microencapsulated vitamin A in a commercial dog feed formulated to 18,000 IU/kg. Against the initial analysed value, the feed lost 26% of its vitamin A in the 90 °C preconditioner and 34% after extrusion and drying, with no difference between mixing and milling. In the matching vitamin-mineral premix, sampled at 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 days, recovered vitamin A did not differ significantly over shelf life (p = 0.484). [3]

Editorial calculation: if a feed is meant to deliver 18,000 IU/kg after a 34% loss through extrusion and drying, the mixed feed needs about 27,300 IU/kg (18,000 ÷ 0.66). Losses depend on the product form and the process. [3]

Editorial note: ask the supplier for retention data for the actual vitamin sources and carrier offered, under your storage temperature and humidity, and for the batch analysis method and frequency.

03

Specify the stability test conditions and the hot-season plan

The storage trials above were run near 22–25 °C, but warehouses and farms can be hotter and more humid. dsm-firmenich, a vitamin producer, describes how its laboratory tests premix stability: 25 °C (77 °F) with 60% relative humidity counts as "long term" storage, and its standard accelerated protocol is 40 °C (104 °F) with 75% relative humidity. It states that accelerated conditions, compared with long-term conditions, can increase the disappearance of beadlet vitamin A 1000 by 2 to 8 times in a choline-containing vitamin-trace mineral (VTM) premix within 3 months. [4] [1]

Its field data point the same way: in poultry feeds submitted to its laboratory, summer vitamin A assays averaged about 10% lower than fall and winter assays. Its recommendations for hot months are to reduce or remove choline from VTM premixes and store and add it separately, because choline draws in moisture and speeds decay reactions; to shorten storage, shipping and inventory time; and to choose stable sources. It ranks vitamin E and calcium pantothenate at the stable end and vitamins A, K and thiamine at the labile end, which agrees with the A, K3 and B1 losses in the piglet premix trials. [4] [1] [2]

Editorial calculation: if a premix is formulated with an 11% overage for vitamin A to cover expected storage loss, a further 10% seasonal shortfall of the kind dsm-firmenich reports would leave about 1.11 × 0.90 ≈ 1.00 of the target, with no margin left; plan a larger summer overage or a shorter storage time for the labile vitamins. [4]

04

Vitamin-only and trace-mineral premixes as separate products

Ask whether the supplier below can make vitamin and trace-mineral premixes as separate products, since the authors of the 2019 piglet study advise against producing premixes that contain both. [1]

05

Fat-soluble and B vitamins, choline chloride, copper and zinc, carrier and packaging

Two components are nutrients and stressors at once: choline chloride and high copper and zinc raised losses of vitamins A, K3, B1 and B2 in the storage trials, which is why the order should say whether they go in this premix or are supplied separately. [1] [2]

06

Vitamin levels, choline and mineral content, storage conditions, process losses and retention for a premix order

Overage is set from two losses: storage retention, above 90% at 12 months for E, B2, B6, niacin and pantothenic acid in the piglet trial, and processing, where one dog feed lost 34% of its vitamin A through extrusion and drying. [1] [3]

07

Send the feed, formula and storage data together

Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.

Feed: [species; feed types; inclusion rate]
Formula: [vitamins; levels per kg feed]
Combination: [choline; trace minerals; separate premixes]
Storage: [time; temperature; humidity]
Quality: [vitamin forms; overage; analysis]
Supply: [packaging; market rules; quantity]

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