The effect of varying steam conditioning temperature and time on pellet manufacture variables, true amino acid digestibility, and feed enzyme recovery

Summary Increasing conditioning temperature and conditioning time has been considered a feed manufacture strategy to improve feed hygienics that may also affect feed production and nutritional quality. The objective of the study was to assess how varying steam conditioning temperatures and conditioning times interacted to affect pellet manufacture variables, true amino acid digestibility, and exogenous mixer-added enzyme recovery. Corn and SBM diets that included dried distillers' grains with solubles and meat and bone meal were conditioned at either 77°C, or 82°C, or 88°C with conditioning times of either 30 or 60 s. Treatments were arranged in a three (steam conditioning temperature) × 2 (conditioning time) factorial in a randomized complete block design. Digestible amino acid concentration was estimated using cecectomized roosters in a Latin Square with crossover design. Motor load decreased for 30-s conditioning compared to 60-s conditioning when diets were subjected to 77°C and 82°C, but the time effect was lost at 88°C. Pellet quality increased incrementally with increased steam conditioning temperature (P