DrKanter Technology

Benefits of Palm Fat

In Animal Nutrition

Fats are predominantly triesters of fatty acids and glycerol – triglycerides. Fat is a vital nutrient that provides the body with energy as well as acts as a source of essential fatty acids.

Prilled palm fat is an attractive ingredient as a fat supplement for livestock, as it contains more than 99% fat. Its most important contribution to nutrition is to provide energy. The greatest use of palm fat is in ruminant diets, especially dairy due to the advances in the dairy cattle management that leads to the need for concentrated energy feed supplement for lactating cows. It is proven that feeding this fat decreased feed intake while significantly increasing milk yield, without compromising milk fat content.

The product is obtained from physical processing without hydrogenation, and therefore free from trans fatty acids. High content of palmitic acid is the key type of fatty acid that can bypass the rumen, and improve digestibility. It can also be utilized effectively without interference to rumen microorganism function.

Feeding palm fats with high fat content reduces the risk of ketosis as it maintains dairy cattle's nutritional needs. Palm fat is highly palatable for ruminants as it is odorless and its low content of unsaturated fatty acids reduces rancidity problem. Palm fat is readily available as the production of palm in Malaysia is abundant throughout the year and this guarantees the supply and availability, either for export or local consumption. It is a practical and cost-effective ingredient to be used in feed formulations for dietary management systems due to its ability to increase milk production.