ATR-FTIR spectroscopy as a method for the determination of mineral chelation in high concentration manganese and zinc proteinates used as animal feed additives

Abstract

Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy is an essential tool for the determination of mineral chelation in proteinates used as animal feed additives. With advances in feed formulations and stringent regulatory requirements to confirm the degree of chelation in animal feed supplements, the aim of this work was to further refine the method and demonstrate its applicability to newly formulated, higher concentration (20% (w/w)) manganese and zinc proteinates of industrial relevance. Calibration and prediction models were created using multivariate analysis with R² > 0.99 for both mineral proteinates tested. Root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) values were found to be 1.7% and 2.1% respectively for the manganese and zinc products. The refined method produced reliable data for various applications with excellent specificity, selectivity, and reproducibility. Consequently, the proposed refinements are expected to be of interest from a regulatory perspective and for those in the feed industry for conclusively determining the percentage chelation of minerals in high concentration proteinate products.

Keywords:

• ATR-FTIR
• spectroscopy
• Quant
• proteinates
• chelation
• manganese
• zinc

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Alltech for providing the facilities to complete the work.

Author contributions

LB contributed to the research design and wrote the initial manuscript. MC analysed the samples using ATR-FTIR and further refined the FTIR method. EK contributed to the experimental work by generating the standards used in the study. RM contributed to research design and manuscript revisions. All authors have, read, corrected, and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Additional information

Funding

The authors of this work are employed by Alltech, a manufacturer of OTMs.