Extrusion of amino acid animal feed supplements

Abstract

A process uses extrusion technology for the production of a dense amino acid feed supplement. The feed supplement comprises of one or more substantially pure amino acids preferably selected from a group of lysine, threonine or tryptophan, alone or in combination. In one embodiment, a substantially pure amino acid is mixed with water to provide an extrudable mixture with a desired moisture content. The extrudable mixture is fed into an extruder and extruded through a die to provide at least one noodle of dense cohesive material. In another embodiment, at least one noodle is segmented, dried, milled and sieved to provide granules with a particle size range of between about 177 micron and 1190 micron. In a further embodiment, two substantially pure amino acids are mixed to provide a mixture which is extruded to produce at least one noodle. In yet another embodiment, water is removed from an enriched amino acid fermentation broth which is then blended with an additional amount of lysine free base to provide a mixture which is then extruded to provide at least one noodle.