IntelliBond is a new generation trace mineral source for animal feed. It contains hydroxy trace minerals with a distinctive crystalline structure and strong covalent bonds, making it the most stable form of trace minerals available on the market today. Through improved stability Intellibond achieves a slower dissociation rate in the abomasum and a higher mineral availability in the small intestine, when compared to sulphates. Our range of hydroxy trace minerals include IntelliBond C (copper hydroxychloride), IntelliBond Z (zinc hydroxychloride) and IntelliBond M (manganese hydroxychloride).
What is bioavailability in animal feed?
Bioavailability measures the rate and extent of nutrient absorption from the gastrointestinal tract into the systemic circulation and its availability thereafter at target tissue level. The limiting step for most minerals lies in the absorption across the intestinal wall, as minerals must be in their ionic form to be available for absorption.
Hydroxy trace minerals and bioavailability:
The goal of IntelliBond is to deliver more trace minerals to the small intestine to increase the amount of mineral available for absorption. This is achieved through strong covalent bonds and a distinctive crystalline structure which makes Intellibond less soluble in the rumen thereby decreasing the risk of adverse reactions with antogonists. IntelliBond trace minerals remain available in the small intestine for absorption.
IntelliBond vs Sulphates: Bioavailability
A study on the rumen of fistulated steers concluded that the trace minerals of copper and zinc were more available in IntelliBond than in sulphate sources (Caldera et al., 2019). This shows that the copper and zinc of the sulphates were instead bound to an antagonist. See the results of the study here.
Another study concluded that IntelliBond was a superior source of copper and zinc trace minerals to copper sulphate and zinc sulphate. In fact, the copper levels in the livers of steers fed IntelliBond C (with added antagonists) were higher than those of copper sulphate (Spears et al., 2004; Van Valin et al., 2019). And steers were able to retain more zinc from IntelliBond Z than from zinc sulphate when they were zinc depleted (Shaeffer et al., 2017).
How does IntelliBond offer higher bioavailability?
IntelliBond has the unique ability to only become soluble once it has reached a low pH environment such as the abomasum. Decreasing the extent of adverse reactions with antagonists in the rumen and other feed ingredients, IntelliBond guarantees a slow and stable release of available trace minerals throughout the gastrointestinal tract.