Are Vitamins Lost in the Heating Process of Equine Food?

With so many different types of horse feed available on the market today--from pellets to sweet feeds to extruded products--it can sometimes be difficult for owners to ensure their animals are getting all the nutrients they need.

  1. Heat Processing: Benefits

    • Heat processing can help enhance the digestibility of many grains.

      Many types of animal feed, including equine, are processed using methods that involve heat, such as pelleting and extrusion. This processing is typically done because the exposure to heat helps to increase the digestibility of starchy grains.

    Heat Processing: Drawbacks

    • Many vitamins are very sensitive to heat.

      These heating processes can be harmful to nutrients in the feed that are heat-sensitive, such as vitamins. Vitamins naturally present in the feed's ingredients, as well as chemically synthesized vitamins which are commonly added, are all at risk of destruction from the heat.

    Solution

    • Today's technology has methods to deal with vitamin loss to heat treatment.

      The good news is that the science of vitamins is continually improving, and there are now vitamins that have been specially designed to withstand the heating process for animal feeds. According to The American Soybean Association, these vitamins are able to be protected from heat damage using antioxidants and protective coatings.