Infrared Processing of Animal Feed

Infrared Heating Technology for High-Performance Feed Ingredients

Cereals and pulses are essential components of modern animal nutrition, but in their raw state they contain indigestible starch structures and anti-nutritional factors that limit performance.

Infrared Micronizing transforms these materials by rapidly heating, swelling, and gelatinizing the grain, creating highly digestible, energy-dense ingredients suitable for young and adult animal diets.

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Benefits for Feed Producers

Higher feed efficiency
Better young animal performance
Reduced energy consumption
Consistent product quality
Flexible processing for multiple grains
Integration into existing feed mill layouts

Why Micronized Feed Ingredients

Infrared Micronizing delivers measurable improvements in feed quality and animal performance:

Improved digestibility of up to 98%.
Improved starch gelatinization of up to 92%.
Consistently inactivates toxic enzymes such as trypsin inhibitor…
Developed toasted flavour, replacing astringency…
No need for drying so reduced energy cost.
Improved oil availability due to rupture of oil cells

View detailed benefits

Benefits of Infrared Micronizing of Animal Feed

Higher Digestibility & Starch Availability

Infrared micronizing rapidly swells and gelatinizes starch granules, increasing digestibility up to 98% and starch availability up to 92%. This improves feed conversion, supports young animal performance, and delivers more usable energy from the same raw materials.

The process ensures consistent cooking without moisture loss, producing a highly accessible nutrient profile.

Reduction of Anti-Nutritional Factors

Mid-infrared heat reliably inactivates trypsin inhibitors and other anti-nutritional compounds found in cereals and pulses. By reducing these naturally occurring inhibitors, micronized ingredients become safer, more digestible, and better suited for high-performance diets.

This is particularly valuable in soya beans and legumes, where enzyme activity can limit growth and feed efficiency.

Improved Flavour, Aroma & Palatability

Micronizing develops a clean toasted flavour that replaces natural astringency and bitterness in raw grains. This enhances palatability across species, encouraging better intake in young animals, horses, and pet foods.

The controlled heating also stabilises natural aromas, supporting premium feed formulations where sensory quality matters.

Increased Oil Availability & Energy Density

The rapid heating and expansion of the grain structure ruptures oil cells, improving the release and utilisation of natural oils. This increases the effective energy density of cereals and pulses without additional processing.

Enhanced oil availability also contributes to better extrusion behaviour in pet and aqua feeds.

Lower Microbial Load & Improved Hygiene

Infrared treatment reduces microbial contamination, including moulds, spores, and enterobacteria, without damaging nutritional quality. The process delivers a cleaner, safer ingredient with improved shelf life and reduced spoilage risk.

This is especially valuable for feed mills operating under strict hygiene and quality assurance standards.

No Drying Stage & Lower Energy Consumption

Micronizing heats the grain internally without driving off significant moisture, eliminating the need for a downstream drying stage. This reduces energy consumption, simplifies plant layout, and lowers operating cost.

The stable moisture profile also improves downstream handling, storage, and batching accuracy.

Better Pellet Durability & Reduced Fines

Micronized grains flake cleanly and uniformly, producing fewer fines and supporting stronger pellet formation. Improved starch gelatinisation enhances binding during pelleting, resulting in higher pellet durability (PDI) and reduced dust.

This leads to cleaner production, better transport stability, and more consistent feed quality.

Enhanced Extrusion Performance

For pet food and aqua feed producers, micronized cereals provide more predictable expansion, lower extrusion energy requirements, and a more stable final texture.

The pre-gelatinized starch improves binding and reduces variability, supporting premium product consistency.

Process Plant Flow for Feed Mills

Typical equipment configuration for a micronizing line.

Intake Hopper & Pre‑Cleaners

Water Damping System

Tempering Bins

Infrared Micronizer™

Temperature Monitoring & Discharge Control

Flaking Mill (for cereals)

Cooler

Final Handling & Packaging Equipment

Integrated Process Plant Solutions & Equipment

Maze Process Solutions delivers complete, engineered equipment configurations for modern processing plants. We design and build critical systems in house, and we procure selected ancillary units through trusted partners to ensure every plant operates as a cohesive, fully integrated solution.

Micronizer™
Flaking Mills
Coolers
Bulk Weighers
Conveyors & Elevators
Residual Cooker / Spark Arrestor

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