Beet Pulp Drying is an important process in aquaculture, which is related to the farming of aquatic species including fish, crustaceans, mollusk, and aquatic plants. Beside, this industry developed very fast these years, one of the major elements is that the feed has both reasonable nutrition and reasonable price. In the past, fishmeal has been used in aquaculture diets because of it high protein level.
However, given the increasing development of plant-based products and the demand for more environmentally friendly products, manufacturer’s supplements have turned to using plant-based products that are also nutritionally rich. Such as beet pulp, which is gaining popularity due to the growth of the sugar beet industry and which is a residue after extraction of sugar from beets. Beet pulp in dry form is also reported to be an ideal feed component to be included in aquaculture diets. Regarding this matter, this piece shall discuss the stages and importance of beet pulp drying in aquaculture feeds.
What is Beet Pulp?
Beet pulp is a byproduct of sugar extraction from sugar beet (Beta vulgaris), which is the central fibre rich portion of the root. They are a product produced by sugar production and contains fiber energy and some nutrients that remain after the processing. Beside its moisture content, beet pulp, as received in feed mills, contains only about 10-15% of the dry matter while the remainder is in the form of moisture, which at times reaches 80-90%. The below factors hinder its use in feeds in its natural form. A moisture content of beet pulp must be minimized while feeding it to fish for storage purposes and inclusion into aquaculture diets.
The dried beet pulp is regarded as a feed ingredient with a high level of both cell and hemicellulose and pectin material. These fibers are useful for energy intake for all water animals, especially the herbivorous and omnivorous animals and enhance feed conversion. In addition, beet pulp is cheap because it is a byproduct of sugar beet production, and its use in feed formulation cuts down the cost than other plant or animal derived feeds.
Why Beet Pulp Should Be Used in Aquaculture Feed?
The use of beet pulp within aquaculture diets brings certain advantages. First of all, it helps to achieve a better sustainability of aquaculture forbidding to use fishmeal and other animal products. Thus it becomes very important for the research scientist and fish nutritionist to look for other protein and energy sources and feed additives that could be used as replacements to fishmeal. Although it is a low protein ingredient, beet pulp is among the good supplementary feed ingredients that could be used to supply energy in the digestive tract of aquatic animals.
In addition to being sustainable, beet pulp offers the following advantages:
Furthermore, beet pulp drying is an environmental friendly product of sugar beet industry and enjoys several favorable attributes especially in animal feed. It is highly rich in digestible fiber to produce slow energy and it is special for digestive health in the animal’s diet especially in horses and ruminants. Beet pulp is very low in sugar and is an ideal feed for restricted diet animals include those with laminitis or insulin intolerance. It provides a characteristic which displays moisture retention ability used to supplement or enhance water supply in dry seasons or performance animals. Also, beet pulp drying has low cost, is easily purchased and has low density, which makes it convenient to store by farmers and pet owners.
The Importance of Beet Pulp Drying
That is why beet pulp drying is important for several reasons. First, the fresh beet pulp contains a very high moisture content which creates problems during storage and transportation. If the pulp is not dried, it becomes spoilt by microbes which drastically brings down its nutritional value. Further to this, wet beet pulp which has high moisture content is bulky hence may be expensive to transport. Beet Pulp Drying decreases the biomass handling and transportation costs, since drying greatly reduces its weight and occupies less space.
Other significant factor to dry includes avoiding variation of ingredients being fed to animals for formulation of feeds. One of the causes of variability in feed composition is that wet beet pulp is variable in moisture content. In particular, by drying the pulp, the feed manufacturers can obtain a product of relatively equal quality and, in particular, moisture content which makes it easier to control the nutritional value of the feed.
Beet Pulp Drying process beet pulp is usually dried so that any moisture that is present in the pulp is eliminated in order to achieve a stable product which may be used in feeds formulated for aquaculture fish species.
The following steps are typically involved in the process of beet pulp drying:
The Collection of Pulp and the First Stage of Its Preparation
Once sugar has been derived from sugar beets, the residual fibrous substance is left as beet pulp. These pulps are still wet and even carry appreciable moisture content of water. However, additional dewatering steps, such as pressing of the wet beet pulp or using a centrifuge to spin the water out of the pulp, are commonly taken before drying can occur. This process minimizes the moisture content from the initial 85-90% down to 70-75% making the subsequent drying process less lavish.
Drying Techniques
Beet pulp drying or dewatering may be done in many ways, the most popular of which are the rotary drying and the belt drying methods.
Rotary Drying
This method involves spreading the beet pulp over large rotating dryer with hot surfaces whose heat may be internal or external. The moisture of the pulp is removed as the drums turn due to heat being applied in the process. Rotary drying is rather effective and is used frequently in drying of beet pulp on an industrial level.
Belt Drying
In this method, the beet pulp is carried on the perforated conveyor belt and put on a drying chamber. Flue gases are passed through the layers of the pulp with the objective of eliminating moisture by evaporation. Belt drying entails slower and more systematic drying since the beet pulp goes through the process continuously, thus suitable for the generation of high quality beet pulp drying.
Rotary method of drying is preferred over belt drying depending on the final quality that is to be achieved on the product. Rotary drying is more appropriate in time and effective for massive production while belt drying may be used if the desired feed quality must be of high standards and the nutrients must be preserved optimally.
Cooling and Screening
Afterwards the pulp is cooled to eliminate any possibility of moisture regain and to achieve a better condition for storage. Subsequently, the cooled pulp is screened to get rid of large lumps and other solid particles. Other advantages include; the screening process enable the feed producer to achieve the optimum particle size, which is necessary in blending and palletization.
Storage and Transportation
The beet pulp drying are usually piled in stock or in sacks ready to be shipped to feed mills or directly to the aquaculture fish farms. Specific conditions must meet to store the product include the protection from moisture for this reason limits its accessibility to areas with high levels of humidity and heat.
Nutritional Considerations
Even though it has low crude protein content in its composition, it makes a positive contribution to formulization of aquaculture feeds. CO contains energy and dietary fiber that can modify feed conversion and intestinal health of the target aquatic animals. Nevertheless, beet pulp intake should be combined with other protein sources such as soybean meal, fish meal or insect meal to meet the protein needs of fish and shrimp.
Beet pulp drying is also valuable in rations for animals eating plant products, which are included in the diets of farm fish species like tilapia and carp. It additionally has used in feed formulation for shrimp as a means of improving gut functions and increase feed conversion ratio.
Beet Pulp Drying is an important process for manufacturing effective aquaculture feed. The drying process takes out most of the moisture from the beet pulp thus making it have a longer shelf life and still have all the nutrients which makes beet pulp to be an excellent source of fiber in the diets for the aquaculture fish. Effective of drying also improves palatability and nutrients retention for the benefit of the aquatic species growth and development.
Kerone as a manufacturer and supplier of such drying system is designed to meet the requirements of industries such as aquaculture. It also has fine features of moisture removal sophistication, energy-consciousness, and standardization of the beet pulp drying process integral for optimal nutritional quality of beet pulp. Our experience in custom-built dryers ensures the dryers offer unrefined performance, in particular to feed producers. Kerone integrated processing equipment together with other sustainably sourced aquaculture feed products is a guarantee when partnering with them.
