The Importance of Quality Micronised Grains

Grains and Pulses have always played an important part in balanced nutrition. However, in the raw state Grains and Pulses contain an inaccessible starch structure, which is indigestible. To open up the nutrients, the starch must be processed into smaller component “glucose” molecules known as gelatinized starch.

Various methods have been used to try and achieve the above objective such as cracking, crimping, grinding, milling, steam heating, flaking and extruding with more or less success and more recently micronizing with great success.

The problem with some of these processes is that while digestibility in the small intestine is increased to varying degrees, it is often done at the expense of other nutritional factors such as protein & vitamin absorption. Micronizing on the other hand not only increases the digestibility of cereal grains substantially, but does so without compromising the nutritional integrity of these feeds.

The Micronising Process

Robank® Equi-NIZE® feeds are produced using the process called Micronizing. The Micronizing process makes use of a narrow band within the infrared spectrum with a wavelength of between 1.7 and 3.4 micronization as its source of energy.

Traveling at the speed of light, infrared energy is extremely efficient at generating heat inside absorbent materials, by causing the constituent molecules to vibrate at a frequency of 80 – 170 million megacycles/second. The result is inter-molecular friction which brings about rapid internal heating and a rise in water vapour pressure (This must not be confused with microwave cookers, which use a higher wavelength). The above process ensures the grains become soft and manageable, then immediate flaking gelatinizes the starches in the grains. Micronizing is a highly reliable and consistent “SHORT TIME HIGH TEMPERATURE” patented process using humidity, temperature and mechanical pressure to achieve high levels of starch gelatinization and the elimination of any anti-nutritional factors.

Grains