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Tannic acid is a specific form of tannin and a type of polyphenol. It is defined in AAFCO as 582.20 for a source of flavour. Quebracho extract is a big complex polymer of tannin (MGM-S), specially for ruminant animals.

MGM-S has been approved to inhibit the growth and activity of methanogenic archaea in the rumen, which are responsible for producing methane as a byproduct of fermentation. It can alter the composition and activity of microbial populations, stimulating saliva production, favouring the growth of bacteria that produce less methane and increasing the proportion of propionate. Therefore, it can prevent the accumulation of lactic acid in the rumen and improve rumen pH stability, working together with marine-sourced calcium carbonate to reduce the risk of rumen acidosis.

MGM-S has been investigated for its ability to reduce the incidence of frothy bloat, which can occur when cattle consume rapidly fermentable feeds, such as high-grain diets in feedlot. MGM can help to reduce the stability of foam in the rumen by binding dietary proteins and maintain a more stable rumen environment, preventing the formation of gas bubbles and reducing the risk of bloat.

MGM-S also shows its anthelmintic effects due to its ability to disrupt the physiology and life cycle of parasites such as nematodes and coccidia.

Freshly milked dairy collected on-farm. Feed supplements like MGM-S are helping improve both milk composition and rumen health in today’s herds.

Adding 70 g MGM-S per day per cow could produce 1.2% more fat and increase milk protein by 3.3%. Adding 0.15% MGM-S to beef cattle diets for 93 days with initial body weight at 180 kg, achieved daily weight gain 180 grams and FCR was improved by 6.72% (8.18 vs. 7.63).

A study compiled by our Redox Animal Nutritionists.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential and expensive mineral for pigs, crucial for bone development, energy metabolism, and various physiological processes. The phosphorus requirement for pigs is dependent upon:

(1)   An adequate supply of P in an available form,
(2)   A suitable ratio of available Ca and P in the diet, and
(3)   The presence of adequate vitamin D.

Phosphorus in protein sources of animal origin is largely inorganic and has a high relative bioavailability (RBV). However, the RBV of P in meat and bone meal (MBM) is variable (67-90%). Phosphorus in inorganic supplements also varies in RBV (Table 1, Jondrevvill and Dourmad, 2006).  The RBV of MCP and MDCP is strongly affected by citric acids solubility and ammonium citrate solubility, respectively. Usually, the water solubility for MCP and MDCP is required to be greater than 80% and 50%, respectively.

Table 1. RBV and the digestibility coefficient of different inorganic P sources

In cereal grains and oil seed meals, about 60-75% of P is organically bound in in the form of phytate. The exogenous phytase supplementation can result in major improvement in RBV of phytate P. The higher temperature during pelleting of diets can reduce or destroy phytase activity and thermal stable phytase is available now to resist up to 85 ˚C pelleting temperature (Table 2).

Table 2. VTR phytase activity and heat stability (North Carolina State University)

To limit the loss of activity, Phytase must be made resistant to digestive proteases. After 2 h in contact with pepsin, VTR phytase retained about 93% of their initial activity (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The effect of pepsin on phytase activity.

A wide Ca-to-P ratio lowers P absorption and resulted in reduced growth and bone calcification. Ca and P requirements for maximizing bone strength are at least 0.1 percentage units higher than that maximal body weight gain. Although every 1-gram phytate P released by phytase could spare 1.33 grams Ca availability, a suggested ratio of total Ca to total P is between 1:1 and 1.25. It is noticed that the Ca in calcitic limestone is highly available, but Ca in dolomitic limestone is only 50 to 75% available.

An adequate vitamin D is necessary for proper metabolism of Ca and P, but a very high level of vitamin D can mobilize excessive amounts of Ca and P from bones.

A study compiled by our Redox Animal Nutritionists.

Did you know synthetic oil was initially developed for aeroplanes, not automobiles?

While it was first created to withstand the extreme conditions of aviation engines, synthetic oil has since become the preferred choice for modern high-performance car and truck engines and transmissions.

Why? Because synthetic oil offers four key advantages over conventional mineral-based oil, making it superior in terms of performance, efficiency, and longevity. 

As a distributor of Chevron Phillips Chemical’s extensive Synfluid® range of PAOs, Redox plays a key role in delivering premium synthetic base oils to the market. These polyalphaolefins (PAOs) are the foundation of high-quality synthetic lubricants, ensuring equipment runs smoother, lasts longer, and performs at its best—even under extreme conditions.

In the latest episode of their HISTORY of MOTOR OIL series, The Motor Oil Geek visited Dr. Ken Hope and his team at Chevron Phillips to explore the science behind synthetic base oil. They take a deep dive into the production process and uncover the specific properties that make synthetic oil an essential choice for today’s high-performance engines.

 

 

As automotive technology advances, the demand for high-quality lubricants continues to grow. Understanding how synthetic oil is made—and why it outperforms conventional oil—helps drivers and industry professionals make informed decisions about engine maintenance and efficiency.

To learn more about the fascinating history and science of synthetic oil, check out the full episode from Chevron Phillips Chemical or contact us today.

Glucose oxidase (GOD) is exogenously produced by specific fungi fermentation to oxidise β-D-Glucose into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide, consuming large amounts of oxygen.

GOD helps to extend shelf life of wet pet food, preventing rancid and spoilage caused by oxidation and microbial activity. In pet’s gut, it creates an environment that is less favourable for the growth of aerobic microorganisms including mycotoxins. Apart from gluconic acid, the hydrogen peroxides production could directly kill some virus, pathogens, and parasites. Therefore, it is considered as a new natural preservative and antioxidant.

As early as 1962, GOD was found in honey to produce gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide, demonstrating its reputed wound-healing and antiseptic properties. GOD has been defined in the Association of American Feed Control officials (AAFCO) list as 70.3 and is widely used in food and animal production.  As a naturally derived enzyme, GOD can be marked as clean-label ingredient, which is increasingly popular with pet owners seeking natural preservatives in pet food products.

In general, adding 2000 U/kg dry matter or 200 g/MT dry matter GOD to pet food could be used as a preservative and antioxidant.

A study compiled by our Redox Animal Nutritionists.

On behalf of the entire Redox team, we wish you a joyous Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Please note that our branches will be closed on all public holidays. Refer to the list below for information on our office closure dates:

Australia

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Malaysia

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Due to our transport contractors’ reduced capacity and availability, deliveries may be affected. Customers are advised to plan lead times longer than usual.

Please talk to your representative or complete our online enquiry form for any further enquiries.

Low protein or reduced protein diets have been widely used in pig industry to save protein sources and reduce nitrogen excretion. In reduced protein diets, amino acids (AA) balance is crucial for pig’s performance not to be compromised.  

Currently amino acids balance is achieved by the supplementation of crystalline L-Lysine, L-methionine, L-threonine, -L-tryptophan, L-Valine and L-Isoleucine based on the ideal protein profile. In practice, if only adding first 4 limiting amino acids to reduced protein diets, it may result in lower plasma valine, isoleucine, histidine, and arginine. Other amino acids such as lysine, methionine, threonine, tryptophan might become surplus and cannot be used by pigs (Figure 1). Histidine is the seventh limiting AA in typical diets fed to swine and may require supplementation in reduced protein diets (Figure 2). Among cereals, barley has the lowest histidine contends and therefore, barley-based diets may result in histidine deficiency.

Histidine is an integral component of a broad set of tissues including skin, bone, ligaments, and muscle. It is a component of haemoglobin and important constitute of dipeptides anserine and carnosine. High concentrations of carnosine and anserine have been found in the brain and muscles because of its high antioxidant activity.  It also stimulates the digestive secretion of gastrin, a hormone that is essential for digestion of dietary protein. Histidine deficiency could induce a decrease in amino acids oxidation and a decrease protein turnover.

Recommended standardized ileal digestible (SID) histidine to lysine ratio for pigs at 7 to 11 kg body weight from NRC (2012) is 0.34, which was based on growth performance and plasma histidine concentration. Recently, Cheng et al (2023) indicated that SID histidine to lysine between 0.35 and 0.41 in diets fed to nursery pigs at 7 to 11 kg body weight enhanced intestinal health and maximized concentrations of histidine-containing proteins.

Figure 1 Plasma amino acids concentration in standard and reduced protein diets.

Figure 2. The effect of further adding Valine, isoleucine and histidine on daily weight gain

A study compiled by our Redox Animal Nutritionists.

Wearing and tearing on horse joints in activities like racing, jumping, and heavy work, can result in arthritis or inflammation. Oral joint supplements are often used to support cartilage health, reduce inflammation and improving joint fluid.   

Glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate

These two supplements usually work synergistically to help prevent cartilage breakdown and support joint elasticity.

There are three forms of commercial glucosamine: glucosamine hydrochloride, glucosamine sulphate and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (NADG). Glucosamine hydrochloride is the most stable form and more effective to prevent the degeneration of cartilage. It is usually recommended that 12 grams of glucosamine and 2-6 grams of chondroitin per day in a 600 kg horse.

Activities such as racing, jumping, and heavy labor can lead to joint wear and tear in horses, often causing inflammation or arthritis.

Incorporating joint supplements into a horse’s diet can significantly improve joint health and mobility, particularly for those engaged in demanding activities. With the right combination of glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, MSM, yucca extract, and UC-II, horse owners can help reduce inflammation, support cartilage, and maintain overall joint function, ensuring their horses remain healthy and active.

A study compiled by our Redox Animal Nutritionists.

Broiler chickens are one of the most efficient production animals in terms of growth rate and feed conversion ratio (FCR). In Australia, 700 million broiler chickens have been produced each year. Compared to other meat production, the production of chicken meat has relatively low environmental impact and broiler chicken feeds contribute to 70% carbon footprint of chicken production.

Feed ingredients for broiler chickens mainly consist of wheat, soybean meal, canola meal and faba beans. Based on the current life cycle assessment, wheat is considered to contribute to 45% carbon footprint of chicken feed and soybean meal contributes to 37% carbon print of chicken feed (Table 1).   Beyond L-Lysine, L-Methionine and L-Threonine, adding L-Valine, L-Isoleucine and L-Arginine may further reduce 1.5%-unit crude protein levels by replacing soybean meal with wheat and faba beans, allowing approximately 70 kg CO2 eq/kg reduction.

If we consider the effect of phytase, xylanase and protease on climate change (Table 2) and switching from DL-Methionine to L-methionine, another 43kg CO2 eq /kg reduction will be expected, totally about 13.7% reduction (823 vs.710 kg CO2 eq/kg).

Soybean meal contributes 37% to the carbon footprint of chicken feed, while wheat accounts for 45%.

Recently it is noticed that replacing soybean meal with wheat or faba beans will significantly increase dietary Xylan concentration, resulting in reduced lipid digestibility and chicken performance. Although supplementation of exogenous bile acid did not improve lipid digestibility, it significantly reduced mortality rate by 2% unit due probably to reduced endogenous loss of taurine.

In addition, when removing antibiotics as the growth promoter, Glucose oxidase (GOD) supplementation increased body weight gain by 20 grams per chicken and improved FCR by 1 point under necrotic enteritis challenging situation.

Therefore, adding bile acids and GOD to reduced protein diets could further reduce about 37 kg CO2 eq/kg diet or about 5% reduction.

Table 1. The effect of feed ingredients on global warming potential (GWP)

Table 2. The effect of feed enzymes and chicken performance on GWP reduction

A study compiled by our Redox Animal Nutritionists.

Plant extracts are secondary plant metabolites, which are responsible for the odor and color of plants. Plant extracts are composed of more than a hundred components and in two different forms: liquid oil (essential oils) and solid powder. Plants extracts have been well considered to have anti-viral, antimicrobial, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory effects.   

Probiotics are categorized into 3 main groups:

Bacillus-based probiotics are spore-forming and therefore thermal stable. Lactic acid producing bacteria are not spore-forming and survival is of concern during feed processing. It appears that lactic acid-producing probiotics are more beneficial for weanling pigs to help stabilize the gastrointestinal tract after weaning, whereas bacillus-based probiotics are more suitable for growing Ing-finishing pigs to increase the digestibility of nutrients in high fibre diets.

In piglets, Clostridium perfringens type C bacteria frequently cause necrotic enteritis that leads to mortality rates of up to 100%.  Antibiotics treatments have no long-term effect due to antibiotics resistance.

Recently a natural plant extract combined with the spore-forming clostridium butyricum probiotics (Suimet B+) has been developed to prevent Clostridium perfringens type A diarrhoea and type C bacterial infections in pig production.

The application of Suimet B+ to 2,2 00 sows significantly reduced the sow mortality in the late gestation under heat stress conditions (Figure 1). 5 to 7 days after using Suimet+, the mortality rate has been significantly reduced.

Figure 1. Effect of Suimet B+ on sows’ mortality

For weaning piglets, adding Suimet B+ for about 40 days could increase body weight by 17% and reduced the mortality rate from 3.5% to 0.5% (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Effect of Suimet B+ on body weight and the mortality rate of weaners (day 62)

 

A study compiled by our Redox Animal Nutritionists.

N-3 long-chain fatty acids including α-linolenic acid (ALA,18:3n-3), Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20: 5n-3 and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22;6n-3), are essential fatty acids for salmon growth and health. They can not be synthesized by fish body and need to be provided by fish meal and fish oil or algae supplements.

ALA serves as a precursor to other important N-3 long chain fatty acids such as EPA and DHA but the conversion rate in the human body is relatively low. It is important for maintaining heart health, reducing inflammation, and supporting brain function. Plant feed ingredients such as flaxseeds and canola oil contain high levels of ALA.

EPA plays a crucial role in reducing inflammation, supporting hearth, and maintain mental health. DHA is vital for brain and eye development and function. It also supports heart health and cognitive function. Both EPA and DHA can only be provided by fish meal, fish oil and certain algae supplements.


Salmon is naturally rich in EPA and DHA, key N-3 long-chain fatty acids. However, with modern salmon diets comprising only about 30% fish meal and fish oil, there is a potential risk of EPA and DHA deficiency in farmed salmon.

Salmon naturally contains high levels of EPA and DHA, making it a rich source of N-3 long-chain fatty acids. However, current diets for salmon only contain approximately 30% fish meal and fish oil, possibly resulting in EPA and DHA deficiency. In addition, recently it is reported that higher dietary concentration of N-3 long chain fatty acids might reduce sea lice infection and therefore, the requirement of N-3 long-chain fatty acids based on high level of plant-based ingredients needs to reconsider.

Based on the diet containing 35% fish meal and fish oil, Bou et al., 2017 indicated that extra 1.5% EPA or 2% DHA supplementation obtained best growth performance for salmon. Dietary concentration of 0.5% of EPA plus DHA is considered the lowest level for Atlantic salmon parr in Fresh water (Qian et al., 2020). Interestingly, the highest EPA:DHA ratio showed a lower number of wounded fish at the end of the grow-out period, implying that the partial replacement of fish oil with algae oil may achieve a balanced EPA:DHA ratio.

A study compiled by our Redox Animal Nutritionists.