The importance of fat content determination in feed production cannot be overstated. Fat is a key nutrient, providing essential fatty acids and serving as a dense energy source. Variations in fat content can affect the nutritional value of feed, influencing the health of pets and the productivity of livestock. Therefore, reliable and accurate methods for fat determination are crucial.
This application note outlines a reliable procedure for determining oil content in plant-based and animal-based feeds, aligned with the official AOCS Ba 3-38 method. The VELP SER 158 Automatic Solvent Extractor uses the Twisselmann extraction method, where the sample is continuously exposed to hot solvent vapor, ensuring efficient extraction. The gravimetric analysis is then used to quantify the extracted fat content.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach and the versatility of our auto-extractor, a comprehensive analysis is conducted on three distinct feed samples: extruded soybeans, fish meal, and rabbit feed.
The study also explores the potential for reducing analysis time to 1.5 hours while maintaining accuracy and achieving comparable results to those obtained in the standard 3-hour procedure. Additionally, the Randall extraction method, also known as hot extraction, is tested to handle these complex matrices.
In all the cases, results obtained were consistently aligned with the expected fat content values confirming the extractor’s versatility and its robustness across various methods and applications.