OptiPhos® Plus G: Developed To Be The Standard For Heat Stability
Lode Nollet
When designing OptiPhos® Plus, one of the focus points was to create a phytase with such a high intrinsic heat stability that it would be pelleting stable in more than 90% of the feed mills around the world. A granular, uncoated OptiPhos® Plus (G) was obtained which is heat stable up to 85oC.
Separately, a coated version of OptiPhos® Plus (CT) was developed to combat the strong heat processes up to 95oC, to be used only for the specific situations where it is necessary.
The guidance of when to use OptiPhos® Plus G and when to use CT is as follows:
- Use OptiPhos® Plus G when conditioning at temperatures up to 85oC with a maximum conditioning time of 120 seconds followed by pelleting and adequate cooling.
- Use OptiPhos® Plus CT when conditioning and pelleting at temperatures between 85 and 95oC (or even higher), or when conditioning at 80-85oC for longer than 120 seconds, such as with hygienising of mash feeds (which are not pelleted).
Since its launch in 2019, OptiPhos® Plus G has become the standard phytase in practical feed production. Approximately 87% of total OptiPhos® Plus sales are in granulated form (OptiPhos® Plus G) with the remaining 13% representing sales of the coated form (Figure 1). Also, 90% of sales to new customers in 2024 were for OptiPhos® Plus in its granulated form. This shows that OptiPhos® Plus G is heat stable enough to cover most practical situations.
Another aspect that can be considered is the fact that OptiPhos® Plus in granular form can be provided in much higher concentrations (up to 50,000 FTU/kg) compared to the coated form. Higher concentration products bring some extra benefits in terms of pricing, handling, storage and transportation.
Figure 1. Sales of OptiPhos® Plus G and CT as a percentage of total sales of non-liquid OptiPhos® Plus (2024)
It might be that in some cases, customers are using OptiPhos® Plus CT (coated) in situations where the granulated OptiPhos® Plus G would already be sufficiently stable to meet the expected recoveries. It is worthwhile to check and determine if it makes sense to switch to the granulated form as this might be a lower cost solution.
Recent pelleting studies comparing OptiPhos® Plus CT and G to some recently launched new competitors show that OptiPhos® Plus G is clearly more heat stable than all the (coated) competitor products tested (Figures 2 and 3). This means that when replacing a competitor phytase in the market, OptiPhos® Plus G is the viable choice to consider, especially when the competitor phytase shows suboptimal recoveries after pelleting.
Figure 2. Heat stability of OptiPhos® Plus G and CT vs competitors (Denmark, 2022)
Figure 3. Heat stability of OptiPhos® Plus G and CT vs competitors (Denmark, 2023)
Conclusion
OptiPhos® Plus G is the most heat stable phytase on the market and is heat stable enough to replace any other competitor phytase under field conditions.
OptiPhos® Plus CT is to be used in challenging conditions and specific cases where heat stress is high due to high conditioning and pelleting temperatures (> 85oC) or with prolonged (> 120 sec) conditioning times.