Why is Accurate Fiber Determination Essential?
Fiber is essential for both animal feed and human food in maintaining overall health and well-being. Accurately determining the amount and type of fiber is crucial. Fiber determination provides valuable insights that impact various fields:
- Animal feed production: Knowing the fiber amount helps in formulating diets that optimize digestion, gut health, and overall animal performance.
- Food labeling: Accurate fiber content is crucial for proper labeling, ensuring consumers make informed dietary choices.
- Nutritional research: Understanding the impact of different fiber types on health is key to developing better dietary recommendations.
All the solutions use crucible technology, adhering to official standards (ISO and AOAC). Fiber residues remain in crucibles during all analysis steps, eliminating the risk of errors and ensuring consistent results.
Fiber Determination in Feed Stuff
What is the Crude Fiber (Weende) Method?
The crude fiber method estimates the amount of fiber or plant cell walls. It is widely used for determining fiber content in monogastrics. The method involves:
- Solubilization (digestion): Solubilizing non-cellulosic compounds using sulfuric acid and potassium hydroxide solutions.
- Crude fiber measurement: Measuring the loss on ignition of the dried residue remaining after digestion of the sample.
This method is applicable to grains, meals, flours, feeds, and fiber-bearing materials from which fat can be extracted.
Acid digestion
- Boiling
- Filtering
Washing
- Washing with water after acid digestion
Alkali digestion
- Boiling
- Filtering
Washing
- Washing with water after alkali digestion
How Does the Detergent Fiber (Van Soest) Method Work?
Van Soest method is based on the concept that plant cell can be divided into less digestible cell walls consisting of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. As a result, it is possible to fraction fiber in NDF, ADF and ADL that are used to estimate the energy intake from feed and particularly for ruminants.
Neutral Detergent Fiber, NDF
The sample is digested in the Neutral Detergent Solution NDS with heat-stable-amylase-treated enzyme to separate the neutral detergent soluble fraction (sugars, starches and pectin soluble, filtered) from the neutral detergent insoluble fraction (cell walls substances, hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin, residues).
The remaining dry matter is estimated, and the proportion gives the neutral detergent fiber (NDF).
Acid Detergent Fiber, ADF
The Acid detergent solution (ADS) solubilizes the hemicellulose while lignin and cellulose remain insoluble. The residue is weighed for the determination of ADF. It includes cellulose and lignin.
Acid Detergent Lignin, ADL
The remaining residue from the ADF analysis, is solubilized by 72% sulfuric acid, leaving the lignin (ADL) which is determined gravimetrically.
Fiber Determination Analyzers and Extractors for Feed Analysis
FIWE Advance Automatic Fiber Analyzer
The fully automatic analyzer for crude and detergent fiber determination according to official reference methods requiring minimum operator time with unique user interface and cloud connectivity.
FIWE Fiber Analyzer
Fiber Analyzers that use pre-heated reagents for fiber analysis according to Weende, Van Soest and other official methods.
Learn more about FIWE 3
COEX Cold Extractor
Cold extractor that performs rapid fat extraction on feed samples directly in the FIWE Advance and FIWE glass crucibles.
Dietary Fiber Determination
Dietary fiber is not digested by the human small intestine and represents a crucial nutrient in the human diet for its ability to ensure satiety, to regulate intestinal functions and to modulate the nutrients absorption. Thanks to its benefits, the fiber is increasingly used in functional foods, and food manufacturers declare the fiber content on the package as part of nutritional labeling. Dietary Fiber can be described as the indigestible portion of food derivate from plants.
The analytical procedure for the determination of dietary fiber involves a series of digestions of the sample by thermostable enzymes using the enzymatic digester GDE, which operates in accordance with the official AOAC method for the determination of total dietary fiber.
The Analysis procedure requires time and it is important to follow every single step, in order to have precise results.
The following is a simplification of the original process.
1. Sample Preparation
2. Enzymatic Digestion
3. Filtration
4. Protein Determination
5. Ash Determination
Enzymatic Digester and Filtration Unit for Dietary Fiber Determination
GDE Enzymatic Digester
Enzymatic digestion for dietary fiber analysis by enzymes heating.
Our products
Fat extraction for fiber determination
The COEX is used to perform preliminary defatting of the sample prior to fiber determination with FIWE and FIWE Advance. The COEX guarantee maximum reliability and is a mandatory step for all feed sample with high fat content.
The efficient pump aspirates and removes the fatty component that will be collected in a dedicated waste tank/bottle.
The COEX is easy to use and convenient, all the reagents can be added through the same channel.
Avoid sample loss and transfers
The COEX ensures rapid fat extraction directly into the same glass crucibles used by the FIWE and FIWE Advance whenever the fat content of feed sample is high and need to be reduce to less than 1%.
The crucible containing the defatted sample is transferred directly to the FIWE and FIWE Advance analyzer eliminating possible errors due to sample transfer.
Rapid and efficient filtration
CSF6 is optimal for efficient filtration, after the samples have been processed by the Enzymatic Digester GDE.
This VELP combination allows the analysis to be carried out in accordance with the official AOAC (Determination of Total Dietary Fibre) method with a drastic reduction in the time required compared to the manual procedure.
CFS6 filtration unit is able to perform single or multiple samples at the same time, up to a maximum of 6 samples at the same time, in less than 20 minutes, even at full load.
Reliable filtration unit
The high efficient pump allows to speed-up the filtration step and the final washing.
Compressed air can be also injected from the bottom to remove any sample accumulated in the filter of the crucible, which affects the quality of filtration.
Crude Fiber, Neutral & Acid Detergent Fiber
FIWE 3 (like the FIWE 6) is a fiber analyzer suitable for raw fiber extraction, conventionally known as an indigestible residue. Rapid analysis, reliable results and high reproducibility are some of the most relevant benefits of these units which are ideal for the following applications:
- the Weende method, the oldest analytical procedure still in use today, in which fiber concentration is measured as crude fiber (CF)
- the Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), a method developed by Van Soest, now the most common measure of fiber used for animal feed analysis
- Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), a portion of the plant fiber and includes cellulose, lignin and variable amounts of xylans.
- Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL) determination and Wijkstrom technique, a modification of the Weende method
High Reliability, Single or Multiple Extractions
Perform single or multiple extractions including boiling, rinsing and filtration steps with the maximum reproducibility available.
No sample transfer prevents any possible sample loss, as crucibles can also be used as sample vessels during weighing, drying and washing.
Pre-heat the reagents with RC2 hot plate (included), and pour them directly into the system.
No transfer and sample loss
In order to prepare the sample for fiber analysis, COEX ensures rapid fat extraction directly into the same glass crucibles used by the FIWE series.
The crucible, containing the defatted sample, is transferred directly to the FIWE analyzer, eliminating.
Crude Fiber, Neutral & Acid Detergent Fiber
FIWE 3 and FIWE 6 are fiber analyzers suitable for raw fiber extraction, conventionally known as an indigestible residue. Rapid analysis, reliable results and high reproducibility are some of the most relevant benefits of these units which are ideal for the following applications:
- the Weende method, the oldest analytical procedure still in use today, in which fiber concentration is measured as crude fiber (CF)
- the Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), a method developed by Van Soest, now the most common measure of fiber used for animal feed analysis
- Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), a portion of the plant fiber and includes cellulose, lignin and variable amounts of xylans.
- Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL) determination and Wijkstrom technique, a modification of the Weende method
High Reliability, Single or Multiple Extractions
Perform single or multiple extractions including boiling, rinsing and filtration steps with the maximum reproducibility available.
No sample transfer prevents any possible sample loss, as crucibles can also be used as sample vessels during weighing, drying and washing.
Pre-heat the reagents with RC2 hot plate (included), and pour them directly into the system.
No transfer and sample loss
In order to prepare the sample for fiber analysis, COEX ensures rapid fat extraction directly into the same glass crucibles used by the FIWE series.
The crucible, containing the defatted sample, is transferred directly to the FIWE analyzer, eliminating.
Fully Automatic Crude and Detergent Fiber
Accurate and reproducible results are what a scientist of the animal feed industry needs for fiber determinations to meet the requirements of product labeling and quality control.
The FIWE Advance automates digestion, washing and filtration steps guaranteeing consistency for Crude Fiber with Weende Method and Detergent Fiber for fiber fraction with Van Soest Method NDF, ADF and ADL.
Compliance and consistency
FIWE Advance produces accurate results that always comply with official ISO and AOAC methods for both Crude Fiber and Detergent Fiber.
In addition, the FIWE Advance method using crucibles avoids the loss of fibre due to the transfer of the sample which remains in the crucible for the duration of the analytical procedure.
The sample in fact remains inside the crucibles during the extraction, digestion, washing and filtration phases, and also during weighing and finally for drying and ashing eliminating the risks of error.
Load the samples and go
FIWE Advance saves you valuable time by reducing costs and improving your lab's productivity.
FIWE Advance requires only 2 minutes of operator time compared to more than 50 minutes/operator of a semi-automatic solution.
You will no longer need to preheat and pour chemicals into the columns, manage the temperature for proper boiling, or make sure the filtration is successful.
With FIWE Advance all these operations are automatic and thanks to the cloud connection you are always informed with immediate notifications.
Reliable and accurate
The analytical procedure for the determination of dietary fiber involves a series of digestions of the sample by thermostable enzymes using the enzymatic digester GDE, which operates in accordance with the official AOAC method for the determination of total dietary fiber.
The magnetic stirrer of GDE ensures homogeneity thanks to a continuous and constant stirring of the sample while avoiding overheating that could compromise the success of enzymatic digestions.
Intuitive and precise
Set the timer for unattended operation, you can quickly set the operating time and focus on other tasks.
The transparent polycarbonate tank ensures visibility and enhanced resistance up to 105 °C; whilst the use of deionized water eliminates any possible creation of limestone.
Outstanding temperature regulation is possible with GDE: through an intuitive digital display, it is possible to set the desired temperature, with excellent accuracy of only ± 0.2 °C.
