Abstract

Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy
Volume 16 Issue 3, Pages 285–290 (2008)
doi: 10.1255/jnirs.789

Near infrared spectroscopy for control of the compound-feed manufacturing process: mixing stage

Elvira Fernández-Ahumada, José Emilio Guerrero-Ginel, Dolores Pérez-Marín and Ana Garrido-Varo
Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Engineering, Animal Production Department, University of Córdoba, Apdo. 3048, 14080 Córdoba, Spain. E-mail: g82feahe@uco.es

Years of research have demonstrated the ability of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to predict the chemical composition and percentage of included ingredients in intact finished compound feeds. However, before reaching the end product, the mixing stage—where a large number of highly-varied ingredients are mixed together to obtain the desired product—is a critical point in feed manufacture. Detection of errors at this stage is crucial, since the process can still be corrected. This study sought to demonstrate the ability of NIR equations developed for finished compound feeds to be used at the mixing stage and ensure that the product meets specifications for chemical and ingredient labelling. When equations developed with intact compound feeds for prediction of crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), percentage of sunflower meal (SFM) and percentage of soybean meal (SBM) were applied to samples taken at the mixing stage, the results for CP and CF showed that NIR predictions at this stage provide information very similar to that obtained for the final product (CPmixer = 15.65% CPfinal = 15.87%; CFmixer =7.69% CFfinal = 8.02%). The minor differences observed for the prediction of SFM (%) and SBM (%) at the two stages (SFMmixer = 6.94% SFMfinal = 7.99%; SBMmixer = 11.04% SBMfinal = 9.31%) may be due to the special features of the validation samples used. Although a number of technical and scientific problems remain to be solved, results confirm NIR spectroscopy as a viable tool at the mixing stage. This technique would enable manufacturers to make any corrections required at this point of the process.

Keywords: NIR spectroscopy, diode array, on-line analysis, compound feeds, PAT

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