A descriptive study of the physical quality of commercial broiler pellets across the world

Abstract

This thesis work intends to give a general insight into commercial broiler pellets' physical quality and discuss the differences from a scientific point of view. The samples were delivered to the Norwegian University of Life Sciences by Aviagen customers located in twelve countries. Afterwards, the pellet size (length and diameter) and pellet physical quality indexes, including pellet durability, pellet hardness, dry matter content, fine percentage, and particle size distribution, were then measured. Major findings between pellet size and pellet qualities are: 1) Nutritionists should discuss the impacts of grinding on pellet quality in line with grain types and particle sizes. Similar to common sense, roller mill grinding gave more homogeneous results than hammer mill grinding. 2) The influence of raw materials on pellet quality varied with the ratio of protein, starch, and fibre within grains. In general, pellets made with wheat showed better physical quality values than pellets made with maize. 3) Whole wheat addition (post-pelleting) is a popular way to increase pellet broiler diets' structure and reduce the production cost. 4) Pellet length showed relatively strong non-causal linear relations with pellet hardness values (r=0.47) and fine production (r=-0.40). 5) The strong correlation between pellet hardness and pellet durability (r=0.75) was spotted. Even though the correlations shown in this study are exclusive for received samples, these findings could still be used as an indicator for later research. Future works intend to study the interactions between pellet quality and pellet texture are encouraged.