The grain roasting phase is essential because it eliminates anti-nutritional factors, increases the availability of proteins, and improves the digestibility of the grain, favoring the well-being of your farm and the productivity of your company.
Today it is possible to toast all types of cereals: soy, corn, barley, wheat and much more. Generally, these are used as a source of nutrition for animals, but they can also be intended for human consumption. Roasting cereals brings with it countless benefits, including the possibility of raising healthier and stronger cattle and obtaining a better yield.
But why should you personally roast your cereals? In this article, Mecmar answers this question by investigating the main benefits of grain roasting.
3 benefits you can get thanks to an optimal cereal roasting
Once collected and properly stored, the cereals – for example, soybeans – are prepared for further processing intended for animal or human nutrition. Among these, roasting is a process that transforms the beans giving them greater value and better nutritional characteristics.
1. A safer and more genuine product
Thanks to grain roasting, a breeder can guarantee himself the freedom to give a healthy product to his animals, knowing every stage of processing, from cultivation to roasting.
By combining a dryer, a roaster and a small mill, and under the guidance of a good nutritionist, you can have everything you need to make a healthier and much economic feed for your animals.
From a more technical point of view, the roasting phase binds the proteins to the fiber of the grain, to allow the nutritional substances to be more easily absorbed by the animal. As soon as it is harvested, the cereal contains urease and lipoxidase, two enzymes that are potentially harmful to the well-being of your farm. Thanks to the roasting, both are completely neutralized.
Raw soybeans are quickly broken down by microbes in animals ‘stomachs, while roasted beans delay this microbial action, allowing the non-degraded protein to flow directly into the animals’ blood, fortifying their well-being. Grain roasting leads to a greater undegradable protein fraction at the rumen level (rumen-degradable protein, or RUP), which is equivalent to having a greater share of bypass amino acids than extracted flour.
This effect – defined as the “by-pass” effect of proteins – is fundamental because it can favor the rapid absorption of essential amino acids in the intestine and increase the level of farm productivity.
2. Cereals with a high nutritional content
Soybeans are naturally rich in high-energy proteins (typically 35-40%), vitamins, minerals and essential trace elements. Roasted soybeans are therefore an indispensable source of healthy energy for animals. Proceeding with the roasting of soy before administering it to livestock not only cancels the possibility of mold or other contaminants arising, but also makes the grain more assimilable and pleasing to the animal.
Like soy, roasted corn also offers greater digestibility: in this case the toasted cereal has an energy level increased by more than 10%. During roasting, Mecmar roasters effectively remove mold spores and reduce the levels of harmful toxins because they act uniformly on all the beans to be treated.
The possibility of intervening on the process parameters – such as temperature, time and power of the treatment – allows for great flexibility on the desired level of roasting, according to the specific needs of a company, while maintaining the uniformity of treatment. Being able to define the level of roasting that our finished product will take, we can decide to use the cereal for different functions.
Roasted soybeans are also used by milk producers, who, thanks to the roasting of cereals, can transfer the soy fat to the milk, obtaining healthier animals on the one hand and therefore more productive.
3. Right level of toasting
The trypsin inhibitor in raw soybeans prevents the normal digestion of proteins in the animal’s intestine. To overcome this problem, we intervene with roasting to minimize the anti-trypsin activity, until it disappears completely.
Cereals are the best foods for nourishing different types of animals because they are sources of energy and proteins, highly assimilable and of quality. The roasting process breaks down the cellular structure inside the grain, increases its digestibility, making the nutrients readily available for absorption.
It is up to the food processor, feed processor or user of the machine to decide how to set the heat treatment, in the machines where it is possible to do so, according to his needs and those of the animal (monogastric or polygastric, pig, bovine or poultry).
Conclusion
For your farm to grow strong and healthy, you need nutrient sources that can provide animals with large amounts of protein and energy. If your livestock feeds on healthy and safe food, your farm productivity will benefit as well.
Treating cereals with solutions that ensures homogeneous, delicate and effective grain roasting means being able to offer your farm a guaranteed feed, free of elements that could jeopardize its quality.
To learn more about Mecmar grain roasting solutions, contact us: our team is ready to answer all your questions.
