UDC:  631.664.8.039.51

According to the UNO data, one of five persons in the world is undernourished, i.e., is chronically devoid of nutrients needed to satisfy the physiological requirements. According to many experts, food shortages will increase because of the increase in the world population.

Therefore, the challenge for the scientists of all countries is to accelerate the development of new trends and technologies in order to increase the quantity of food and improve its quality.

One way to increase the production of livestock industry is realization of the productivity of animals to their full genetic potential. In many countries, the productivity is only 40-50%.

The cost of feed is 60-65% of the total cost of livestock production. The present state of feed production at many enterprises does not fully meet the needs of animals and does not comply with the scientifically substantiated requirements in livestock industry. Russian and foreign scientists developed detailed rules on feeding using 30-35 characteristics depending on the age, sex, physiological state of animals, etc.

All the components of nutrition are important in the feeding of highly productive ruminants. However, a special role is played by proteins and carbohydrates. The demand for proteins in  animal feeding is almost completely satisfied, but the demand for easily digestible carbohydrates (sugars) is satisfied only to 35-40%. This is the main limitation for the realization of the genetic potential of animal productivity.

The traditional sources of food sugars in Russia are root tuber crops, sugar molasses, and hydrolysis molasses. Note that root tubers can accumulate nitrates, which are converted into nitrites and then into carcinogenic nitrosamines in animals. In addition, the sugar content in root crops decreases considerably after four or five months of storage. Sugar molasses is a waste product of sugar-processing enterprises also containing 4-8 g of nitrates per 1 kg of molasses and other chemicals, which adversely affect the health of animals and the quality of products.

It is commonly recognized that carbohydrates (sugars) play an important role in the physiological processes of animals. They are the major source of energy for animals and a nutrient medium for the synthesis of microbial protein in the forestomach of ruminants. It is important to maintain the proper sugar to protein ratio in the animal diet to create the optimum conditions for growth of the rumen microflora and improve the synthesis of amino acids, volatile fatty acids, and vitamins.

The lack of carbohydrates in the cattle diet decreases the digestibility and nutrient accessibility of fodder, leading to imbalance of biochemical processes in animals, lower milk production, and some other negative consequences. The negative effects of the lack of carbohydrates are especially pronounced for highly productive animals, which prevents realization of their productivity to their full genetic potential and reduces the productive longevity.

In developed countries, it is practical to use monosaccharides for sugar rationing in the animal diet. For example, in Israel, up to 3 kg of crystalline glucose is added to the daily ration per one lactating cow (annual yield 12,000 L). However, this product is expensive, and its use significantly decreases the profitability of cattle-breeding enterprises.

In world and domestic practice, there are various methods and technologies for processing the grain raw materials in order to improve their nutritional value: soaking, roasting, extrusion, conditioning under pressure, etc. These methods have significant drawbacks: low conversion of starch into sugars (5-7 %), high energy consumption, and high processing temperature.

In view of the foregoing, there is an urgent need for the development of new innovative technologies for processing the available grain starch-containing raw materials into molasses by inexpensive and environmentally safe methods.

 We have developed, patented, and commercialized new technologies for processing various starch-containing grain raw materials into molasses with 16-32% carbohydrates [1-5]. The introduction of these technologies can significantly decrease the time of grain starch processing into glucose-maltose molasses, while reducing the energy and labor costs, to eventually obtain green products without using any mineral and organic acids.

Methods for bioconversion of starch-containing raw materials into easily digested carbohydrates with a given composition under the conditions of physical treatment were developed and substantiated from the fundamental viewpoint [5]. The technology includes the following stages: preparation of grain (grinding or soaking) and water treatment (electrodialysis processing). Gelatinization and enzymatic liquefaction of grain starch are performed under the conditions of hydromechanical treatment. Then the milled grain is introduced in portions into a hydromechanical apparatus with prepared electroactivated water (pH 4.5-5.5). The grain mixture is processed in the apparatus for 4-5 h. During this treatment, the grain suspension is heated and homogenized. The enzymatic bioconversion of starch under the cavitation conditions promotes rapid depolymerization of the starch granules. When the grain suspension is heated, starch is gelated, as a result of which the viscosity of the suspension markedly increases. The temperature at the gelation stage is maintained at 55-65 ºC. Multi-enzyme compositions MEK-1 are added for liquefaction. After liquefaction, the mixture is transferred into a fermenter, and MEK-2 is added for saccharification. The duration of the saccharification stage is approximately 4 h. The total starch depolymerization time is 7-8 h. As a result of this treatment, homogeneous mixtures containing the easily digested carbohydrates glucose and maltose can be prepared from any starch-containing raw materials. We also found that the use of anolyte (the acid fraction of electroactivated water) as a reaction medium can significantly reduce the hydrolysis time of native starches to 6 h, and, most importantly, exclude hydrochloric acid from the process and reduce the content of iron ions, which are inhibitors of enzymatic hydrolysis, in the homogenate.

The technologies were introduced at the farms of the Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions, Altai and Krasnoyarsk regions, and the Republic of Tatarstan. The introduction of the feed additive in the diet of young cattle promoted the growth rate of young animals. The additional weight gain in the experimental animals was 16.4% in bulls and 13.2% in heifers. The biochemical parameters of blood for experimental animals showed an increase in glucose from 0.5 to 2.1 mmol/L in heifers and 1.7 mmol/L in bulls.

The feeding of the new feed additive for adult animals also favorably affected the state of metabolism. An analysis of the results of biochemical studies showed that the parameters of blood serum corresponded to the physiological standard for 95-100% animals from the experimental group. In the control group, a number of biochemical parameters of blood was below the standard: phosphorus for 40%, calcium for 80%, and glucose for 50% of the animals under study.

The experience in using molasses from various types of grain in the diets of lactating cows showed the following:

1. The milk productivity of cows increased by 5-8% at an annual milk yield of 8600 kg and by 12-16% at annual milk yields above 5000 kg.

2. The quality of milk was improved: the fat content increased by 8-12%, the protein content by 5%, and the lactose content by 5-8%.

3. The feed consumption was reduced by 10-15%.

4. The digestibility and accessibility of rough feed increased.

5. The physiological processes in animals were activated.

6. The immune status of animals increased.

7. Greater resistance to stress and disease was observed.

8. The cost of veterinary care was lowered.

9. The productive longevity of animals increased.

This feed additive works well with the main diets used for all kinds of animals and does not cause the antagonism of diets.

2. Aksenov, V.V., Porsev, E.G., Nezamutdinov, V.M., and Motovilov, K.Ya., RF Patent 2285725 "Method for the Preparation of Saccharic Products from Grain Raw Materials" [in Russian].

3. Aksenov, V.V., Porsev, E.G., and Motovilov, K.Ya., RF Patent 2340681 "Method for the Preparation of Saccharic Products from Rye and Wheat Meal" [in Russian].

4. Aksenov, V.V., Shkil', N.A., and Motovilov, K.Ya., Experience in Using Carbohydrate Feed Additives in the Feeding of Lactating Cows, Veterinariya i Kormlenie (Vetkorm), 2008, no. 5, pp. 24–25.

5. Aksenov, V.V., Biotechnological Principles of High-Level Processing of Starch-Containing Grain Raw Materials [in Russian], Novosibirsk, 2010.