1. Improve the nutritional value and utilization rate of food.

2. Promote animal production, improve the physical characteristics of pet food, and increase the storage resistance.

3. Improve animal health and product quality.

Classification of additives: nutritional additives and non-nutritional additives.

1. Nutritional additives

Nutritional additives mainly include amino acids, vitamins, trace mineral elements and other nutritional additives. It contributes to the nutritional balance and directly plays a nutritional role in animals.

① amino acids

As an effective means to improve the utilization rate of protein, amino acids are the most used additives in the formula. The commonly used amino acids are mainly methionine, arginine and lysine, and taurine needs to be added to cat food.

② Vitamin additives

Vitamins are the most commonly used and important additives, among which choline chloride, vitamins A, E and nicotinic acid account for the largest proportion.

Commonly used vitamin additives are: vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin B2, nicotinic acid, pantothenic acid, choline chloride and vitamin B 12.

③ Trace elements

The trace elements needed by animals are mainly iron, copper, zinc, iodine and selenium. In addition to providing them with essential nutrients, they can also activate or inhibit certain vitamins, hormones and enzymes, which are extremely important to ensure the normal physiological functions and material metabolism of animals, such as regulating the metabolism of the body, promoting growth and development, and enhancing antiviral ability.

Commonly used trace element additives are: potassium chloride, ferric sulfate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, potassium iodide, sodium selenite and so on.

④ Enzyme preparation

Enzyme preparation refers to one or more enzymes, carriers and diluents produced by biotechnology, which are made by a certain production process. It can improve the digestibility, digestibility and nutrient utilization rate of animals, transform and eliminate anti-nutritional factors in feed, and make full use of new resources.

Commonly used enzyme preparations include protease, amylase, lipase, cellulase, xylanase, β-glucosidase, mannanase and phytase.

⑤ microecological preparation

Bacteria can tolerate acidic environment and bile salts, and can produce substances similar to bacteriocin. Most microecological preparations for pets contain various probiotics, and the effect of compound preparations is better than that of single bacteria preparations.

Usage: Post-spraying technology is generally used to prevent inactivation. In order to ensure a sufficient number of viable bacteria, stable and continuous addition is needed.

Commonly used microecological agents include Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Streptococcus faecalis, Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus lactis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida utilis and so on.

other

Including some substances that can protect and promote animal intestinal health and bone health, such as glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, oligosaccharides, tea polyphenols, yucca extract and so on.

⑥ glucosamine/chondroitin sulfate

This is the most common chondroprotective agent in pet food.

(1) Glucosamine is an aminopolysaccharide synthesized from other ingredients in pet food. It is further used to synthesize mucopolysaccharides (GAGs) in cartilage and joint tissues in vivo, and also has the functions of stimulating the production of mucopolysaccharides and inhibiting degrading enzymes.

(2) Chondroitin sulfate is mainly extracted from cartilage tissue of cattle and pigs. It is a form of glycosaminoglycan, which consists of a long carbon chain combined with a small amount of protein. In addition to the function similar to glucosamine, it can also maintain the moisture in cartilage, assist the transfer of nutrients and alleviate the impact on joints.

All landowners antioxidant

(1) The main function of vitamin E is to prevent the peroxidation of polyunsaturated fat in cell membrane, thus protecting the lipid in cell membrane. Vitamin E cannot be synthesized by the body, so it is an essential nutrient for the body.

(2) As an antioxidant, vitamin C plays a role both inside and outside the cell, and it can interact with vitamin E to help the latter recover its function. Cats and dogs can synthesize vitamin C by themselves, so vitamin C is not an essential nutrient for them. However, adding vitamin C to pet food is still considered beneficial, especially when these animals are under stress.

(3) Carotenoids such as β-carotene, such as lutein and lycopene, come from plants, and cats and dogs cannot synthesize them in large quantities. For dogs, beta-carotene is the precursor of vitamin A, but cats can't convert it into vitamin A. ..

Providing cats and dogs with compound additives containing vitamin E, vitamin C and β -carotene can increase the concentration of serum vitamin E and reduce the total amount of serum alkenyl groups. Supplementing antioxidants can prolong the immune response of adult dogs to vaccines.

2. Non-nutritional additives

Non-nutritive additives refer to some non-nutritive substances added to pet food in order to improve utilization rate, maintain product quality and benefit animal health and metabolism.

① preparation

Blending agent refers to substances added in feed processing to improve the shape of products, including binders and anti-caking agents. Sodium alginate and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose are also commonly used admixtures.

Iron oxide is an unapproved synthetic food pigment. It can turn the food of dogs and cats into flesh color, and the maximum allowable addition amount is 0.25% of the product quality.

② conditioner

Mainly refers to colorants and attractants.

Colorants include Chili powder, lutein, astaxanthin, cantharidin yellow, blood powder, etc.

③ storage agent

If the raw materials and finished products of food are mildewed or the nutrients are not oxidized, the nutritional value will be reduced, which will seriously cause pet poisoning and even death. Mold inhibitors and antioxidants will be used in the production process to prevent this phenomenon.

The fungicides mainly include propionic acid and its salts, sorbic acid and its salts, citric acid and sodium citrate, fumaric acid and its esters, benzoic acid and sodium benzoate, lactic acid and its salts, sodium diacetate, compound fungicides and so on.

Three, antioxidants are classified according to the nature of action

1. Reducing agent (ascorbic acid, sulfite-may destroy vitamin B 1, and the United States stipulates that a product cannot contain sulfite as the only food source).

2. Blocking agents (α-tocopherol, dibutylhydroxytoluene, butylated hydroxyanisole, ethoxyquinoline)

3. Synergist (tartaric acid, citric acid)

4. Chelate (EDTA and its sodium salt)

5. Moisturizers and antibacterial preservatives (propylene glycol is prohibited in cat food, and glycerol is used instead of dog food)

6. Preservatives (sodium bisulfite, potassium bisulfite, sodium metabisulfite)

In addition, nitrite and nitrate are mentioned, which have anti-corrosion and color fixation effects. Because most pet foods are not suitable for eating such substances, its application in animal foods is also limited. Only canned pets containing meat can be added with sodium nitrite, with a limit of 20mg/kg, and sodium nitrate or any nitrate compound is prohibited from being used in animal food.

Tips: Click on "How to quickly evaluate your own cat food and dog food" to learn more about cat food and dog food.