The Influence of Germinated Grain Mix on the Quality of Extruded Fodder

Abstract

The main factor in the development of modern animal husbandry is the development of methods for preparing feed for animals and enhancement of their nutritional value. To obtain high-energy feed, there is a need to use the germinated grain as one of the components for the extrusion used in animal food processing. The quality assessment of the extruded feed in terms of environmental and energy indicators based on a two-component mixture is of particular interest. In this regard, the purpose of the present research was to identify the regularities of changes in metabolic energy and the ecological-energy indicator of the feed quality, depending on the quantitative and qualitative content of the germinated component included in the extruded mixture. Wheat was mixed for 72 hours with pre-germinated grains of wheat, rapeseed, peas, oats, soybeans, or corn. The resulting mixture was extruded at a temperature of 120-130°C and pressure of 4-5 MPa. The highest metabolic energy of the feed was found in the extruded mixture containing 25% sprouted grains of soybeans, rapeseed, corn, peas, oats 15%, and wheat 10%. Regarding energy indicators, it is advisable to use 25% of the sprouted grain of soybeans, rapeseed, corn, peas, 15% of oats, and 10% of wheat in the extruded mixture as well as 10% of sprouted wheat, 25% peas, 25% corn, 10% soybeans, 20% oats, and 10% rapeseed. Based on the obtained results, a mathematical model was designed using the theory of splines. The modeling was carried out in the Maple package.