AU654014B2

AU654014B2 - Pellets containing active ingredients unprotected with respect to the rumen of ruminants and active ingredients protected against degradation in the rumen of ruminants

Info

Publication number: AU654014B2
Application number: AU18524/92A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Jean-Claude Laffay; Jacques Ruel; Alain Sabatier
Original assignee: Rhone Poulenc Nutrition Animale SA
Current assignee: Adisseo France SAS
Priority date: 1991-06-28
Filing date: 1992-06-25
Publication date: 1994-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2012-06-25
Also published as: EP0520890A1; FR2678145B1; IE922029A1; MX9203386A; AU1852492A; EP0520890B1; JPH05184309A; ATE146042T1; GR3021999T3; ZA924749B; DK0520890T3; DE69215770D1; NZ243341A; FR2678145A1; ES2094315T3; CA2072459A1; DE69215770T2

Abstract

New compositions, in the form of pellets, used as food and/or medicinal supplements for ruminants, containing active principles protected with respect to their degradation in the rumen and one or more binders which can be solubilised, crosslinked or melted, and optionally a cleaving agent and/or a filler.

Description

i i"ill 0 t~ 654 0, 1

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION NAME OF APPLICANT(S): Rhone-Poulenc Nutrition Ar!nale ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Attorneys 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

0000 0 00 00 00000 INVENTION TITLE: Pellets containing active ingredients unprotected with respect to the rumen of ruminants and active ingredients protected against degradation in the rumen of ruminants The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 00 0

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0000 0 0000 0 I s la- The present invention relates to pellets containing both active ingredients unprotected with respect to degradation in the rumen and active ingredients protected with respect to degradation in the rumen of ruminants, a process for their preparation and animal feeds containing them.

"Pellet" is understood as meaning a nutritive granule for animals obtained either by extrusion through a die of a mixture of feeds or by another technique. They are typically in the form of rods, preferably cylindrical, 15 exhibiting in particular mean dimensions of 4 to 100 mm in o S S length and 2 to 30 mm in diameter. They preferably exhibit mean dimensions of 4 to 30 mm in length and 2 to 10 mm in diameter. Such pellets are widely used by farmers because they are easy to manipulate, easy to administer and are non-powdery.

It is known that it is difficult to prepare "pellets" intended for animal nutrition compounds containing active -ingredients useful for their nutrition and/or therapy which cannot undergo pelletisation because of the sensitivity of the compounds -o temperature, pressure and shearing stress.

Conventional pelleting machines shape a feed mixture using both heat and pressure by forcing a feed mixture through a

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1 -2- 2 die in the presence of steam. This mixture is passed through a perforated plate (the die) by means of a press which forces the mass to be extruded through the plate openings. At the outlet of the die, the cylinders obtained are cut by a mechanical means or spontaneously. During the forced passage through the die, the products with a low thermal or mechanical resistance undergo degradation both due to the pressure exerted and to the heat caused both by the friction and by the addition of steam which promotes cohesion of the various meal ingredients of the basic fee!1s.

EP-A-0231,817 describes a process for preparing lil "agglomerated feeds" based on vitamins or compounds of t. essential for human or animal health. This problem of ii0 degradation is particularly well explained in the commentary of the prior art of EP-A-0231,817 in that the compounds with a low temperature or mechanical resistance are always at least partially destroyed during their shaping when they are mixed with molasses and then undergo the action of steam in order to ensure the cohesion of the final product.

4EP-A-0231,817 has made it possible to resolve the J problem of the manufacture of these "agglomerated feeds" by spraying a solution or a suspension of vitamin or vitamins or of the medicinal product and, optionally, a fatty substance onto a nucleus based on agglomerated feeds. This process only enables a coating of the basic substance by 3 the vitamin with or without the fatty substance. The said process is easy to implement using pulverulent or liquid products such as vitamins or medicinal products because these products are easy to use in the form of a solution or a suspension. However, this process is not readily adaptable to the formation of "agglomerated nutritive granules", in which the heat- and/or compression-sensitive material is in granular form, typically with a mean diameter of about 0.3 to 5 mm, preferably 0.5 to 3 mm.

FR-A-2338653 also discloses a process for preparing food products onto which a suspension of enzyme, preferably proteases, in a liquid or molten fatty substance is sprayed. This process provides the same information as the European application mentioned above and enables only "pellets" on which the heat-sensitive substance is deposited along the periphery by a phenomenon of spraying.

FR 89/17305 discloses pellets comprising a granular active ingredient protected against degradation in the rumen, which release the said active ingredients in the abomasum and/or in the intestine, which are obtained by mixing the protected active ingredient in granular form with a soluble or meltable, and optionally crosslinkable binding agent and, optionally, a disintegrating agent and/or a filler. These pellets are easily ingestible by ruminants but FR 89/17305 does not disclose pellets which include therapeutic or nutritional agents other than those which are in granular form and which are protected against i i c, ,v 4 degradation in the rumen.

The present invention therefore seeks to provide additives in a form which is directly assimilable by animals, of medicinal or nutritional additives which are protected against degradation in the rumen of ruminants, such as amino acids and vitamins, combined with nutritional or medicinal compounds which are unprotected against degradation in the rumen.

Accordingly, the invention provides pellets comprising: an active ingredient which is unprotected against degradation in the rumen; (ii) a granular active ingredient which is protected eon against degradation in the rumen, but which is released in 15 the abomasum and/or in the intestine; (iii) a S-lhb- or- and optionally crosslinkable binder ci \e e Optionally, the pellets further comprise a disintegrating agent and/or a filler.

The invention also provides a process for the preparation of pellets as described above which process comprises mixing: an active ingredient which is unprotected against degradation in the rumen; (ii) a granular active ingredient which is protected against degradation in the rumen but which is released in the abomasum and/or in the intestine; 'k i i 4 (iii) a separate, soluble, dispersible or meltable, and optionally crosslinkable binder which disintegrates in the rumen, and forming pellets in the absence of steam. In a particular embodiment of the invention the pellets are formed by extruding the mixture at a temperature of less than 100'C.

The invention further provides animal feeds comprising such pellets.

Additives protected against degradation in the rumen include amino acids such as methionine or lysine. It is known for example that certain amino acids are essential for the 44ev e nutrition of ruminants because they are present only in limiting amounts in the daily nutritional supply. This is particularly the case for methionine and lysine. When orally administered to ruminants, these amino acids are destroyed in the rumen by digestive enzymes and microorganisms. For these compounds to be usable and beneficial for animals, it is 4 t necessary to protect the amino acids with a substance which enables them to pass through the rumen without being damaged but which disintegrates in or after the abomasum so as to 20 release the active substance in the intestine and thus enable it to pass into the body.

The protection of the active principle, such as methionine or lysine, may be achieved by using granules of the active principle protected by a pH-sensitive copolymer, a natural product or an enzymatically degradable product, and preferably coated with a composition comprising a combination of a substance which is sensitive to pH variations, chosen in particular from synthetic basic copolymers, with hydrophobic pbI A substances which may be chosen for example from fatty acids or i 6their derivatives and hydrophobic polymers. By "pH-sensitive" is meant a copolymer which is resistant to the pH of the rumen but degraded by the pH of the abomasum. Such compositions are described, for example, in French Patents FR 78/23966 (2,401,620), FR 78/23968 (2,401,621) or FR 81/18954 (2,514,261).

Among the main groups of coating agents, copolymers of vinylpyridine and of styrene with a hydrophobic substance, preferably stearic acid and/or a water-insoluble polymer, for example ethyl cellulose, may be mentioned by way of examples.

o Alternatively, the active principle may be protected using a coating agent sensitive to enzymatic digestion in the o. abomasum or intestine, such as chitosan and/or zein, combined b aa with a hydrophobic substance, preferably stearic acid and, optionally, with a water-insoluble polymer, preferably ethyl cellulose.

The granules of protected active ingredients obtained are typically in the form of substantially spherical particles 0 having a mean diameter of from 0.3 to 5 mm, preferably about 2 :0 20 mm.

It is inconceivable that granules of this size can be sprayed onto "pellets" of nutrient material. Neither can these granules be introduced into pelletisation equipment because the coating is subjected to conditions such as abrasion, shearing stress, temperature rise and addition of steam and pressure, which cause an at least partial degradation of the coating and, therefore, instability of fr; l ^i c__ yi 7 the active ingredients in the rumen during ingestion by the animal.

Heretofore it has therefore seemed difficult to make additives suitable for use in animal feeds for ruminants containing granules protected active ingredients otherwise than by dispersing the granules in the feed, which poses problems of homogeneity, concentration and distribution.

The invention described in Patent Application FR 89/17305\enabled this objective to be achieved. It consists in preparing "special pellets" containing active ingredients protected against degradation in the rumen, which are used for feed and/or medicinal supplementation for ruminants, characterised in that they are obtained by mixing the active ingredient protected in the form of a granule, a binder chosen from binders which can be solubilised or crosslinked or from binders which can be melted, and, optionally, a disintegrating agent and/or a filler.

The active ingredients protected against the action of the rumen which can be used in this form are chosen from: essential amino acids such as methionine and lysine, their salts, their derivatives and their analogues; vitamins; medicinal ingredients such as antibiotics.

Binding agents which can be used in the present invention are preferably chosen from feed materials

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i_ -8 permitting liquid/solid conversion, so that a defined shape close to that of the food "pellet" can be imparted to the pellet and set.

Two categories of binding agents may generally be used: soluble binding agents used in a solvent or dispersing medium, from which the solvent or dispersant medium may be removed, e.g. by drying, meltable binding agents which may be used molten and allowed to solidify to produce pellets.

Among the binding agents used in a solvent or dispersing medium, there may be mentioned: hydrocolloids such as, in particular, water-soluble Sderivatives of cellulose such as: carboxymethylcellulose, 6 0 hydroxypropylcellulose, hydroxyethylcellulose and hydroxymethylcellulose; natural or synthetic polysaccharides such as: gum arabic, gum tragacanth, carrageenans, dextrins, starch, xanthan gum and alginates; sugars, molasses and vinasses, i lignosulphonates, vegetable or algal meals, crystallisable mineral compounds such as lime, plaster, sodium silicate, calcium carbonate and silica, gelatins, tanned proteins, 1 9 polyvalent cation salts of natural or synthetic polyacids, drying oils and mastics obtained by combining a drying oil and a filler.

Some of the above binders are crosslinkable for example, hydrocolloids such as alginate, gelatin, xanthan gum, cellulose derivatives, other polysaccharides, molasses and vinasses. Crosslinkable binding agents may be used with crosslinking agents for example, an aldehyde if the crosslinkable binding agent is a protein, a salt or oxide of di- or trivalent metals if the crosslinkable binding agent is an alginate, xantha, gum, molasses, vinasses or some other hardening agent suitable for the binding agent used and well known to a person skilled in the art.

Among the meltable binding agents, there may be mentioned by way of examples: fatty acids and alcohols, hydrogenated vegetable and animal fats, glycerol esters, paraffins, natura2 or synthetic waxes, synthetic polymers such as polyethylene glycols, polyvinyl acetate and the like.

Among all the binders, the use of molasses, vinasses, fatty acids, hydrogenated vegetable or animal fats, plaster, paraffin waxes and vegetable meals i- preferred.

The following may be mentioned as therapeutic or i" 10 nutritional agents which are unprotected and which can be used in the present invention and may therefore be incorporated into the mixture to be shaped into pellets: mineral additives such as phosphorus, sulphur, magnesium, zinc, copper, cobalt, sodium, potassium, chlorine, iron, calcium, iodine, molybdenum, selenium, nickel and vanadium, vitamins such as vitamins A, B, D and E, energy-producing foods such as glucose, long or volatile fatty acids, yeasts, growth factors, enzymes such as ligninases, cellulases such as for example glucanases, xylanases, a-amylases, P-glucanases and phytases, microbial flora such as lactobacilli, pediococci and streptococci, bacteria, fungi, such as, for example, aspergilli and penicillia, S- peptides, such as, in particular, growth hormone, food adjuvants such as sodium bicarbonate, sorbitol, propylene glycol, betaine and sodium propionate.

Additives such as fillers may also be introduced into the pellets to provide the pellets with improved density and mechanical strength and disintegrating agents can also be introduced to provide rapid disintegration of the I :s j::i; l t. 7 11 i '-4it, 11 eli! Io r t «o a *i i

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t pellets in the rumen.

There may be mentioned by way of useful additives for preparing the pellets according to the invention: as fillers inorganic additives such as: silica, silicates, talc, clays, calcium carbonate, phosphates and bentonites, as disintegrating agents additives derived from natural products such as: grain meals, residues from the cereal and timber industries, ground oil-cakes, brewery and fermentation residues, cellulosic plant fibres, polysaccharides and sugars.

The binder, optionally supplemented with additives, preferably represents 40 to 95 of the mass cf the pellets. The content of inorganic or natural additives 15 represents 0 to 80 by weight relative to the binder.

The mixing of the binder and the protected product may be carried out prior to or during shaping. The shaping may be performed for example through a die or a mould.

The nature of the binder, the pouring temperature and 20 the amount of additives present in the pellets may be adjusted by a person skilled in the art to obtain the desired appetency, density, form, size, mechanical strength, solubility, and ability to disintegrate in the rumen.

They are preferably in the form of rods, preferably cylindrical, exhibiting in particular mean dimensions of 4 to 100 mm in length and 2 to 30 mm in diameter.

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44 4,4, Itll I t 4 t .444 .4 t 4 i 1 4 t 4 medicinal product.

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i i 12 12 The pellets according to the invention exhibit the following characteristics which make them useful for incorporation into animal feed for ruminants: 1/ They are miscible in all proportions with granulated feeds generally distributed to animals to supplement the basic feed ration; i.e. they can withstand the various handling stages to which granulated feeds are subjected without demixing and can become integrated into the feed distribution chain.

2/ The loss of protection of the protected active ingredients is limited therein during the shaping and the $oil mechanical destruction of the protected active ingredients is therefore reduced.

3/ The pellets disintegrate rapidly in the rumen and avoid a loss of protection of the incorporated active ingredients by mastication during rumination. The protected active ingredients may then freely continue through the Leaf d~the unprotected active ingredients are released in the rumen where they can be active.

The miscibility with traditional granulated feeds depends essentially on the shape and the density of the products prepared and does not present any problems for a person skilled in the art.

The disintegration of the pellets in the rumen enabling the release of the active ingredients which are unprotected with respect to the rumen, and of the protected granules, is evaluated by incubating the pellets in the 4, e i

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13 rumen of cows fistulated using sachets made of nylon fabric with a mesh size of 350 microns. The disintegration time should be as short as possible and in particular below 48 h.

The following Examples illustrate the invention.

The protected active ingredients used in the examples are granules about 2 mm in diameter consisting of: Protected active ingredient Particles of lysine monohydrochloride and methionine in a proportion by weight of 75/25, containing about 12 of a binder consisting of a mixture of stearic acid containing 5 pw of 2-vinylpyridine and styrene copolymer, protected against degradation in the rumen by a coating layer representing 12 by weight of the protected product, consisting of a mixture of 20 of 2-vinylpyridine and styrene copolymer and 80 of stearic acid.

S The level of protection of the granules is 99 COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE The protected granules (2 prepared above are 20 introduced into a mixture of meals intended for animal feed and shaped into a granulated feed in a KAHL rotary die S press after treating with steam in accordance with the conventional method of preparing granulated feeds. The product obtained is in the form of extruded cylinders 5 mm in diameter and about 15 mm in length.

The residual level of protection, in the granulated feed, of the amino acids used in the example is 0 after 14 passing through the press.

The comparative example shows that the shaping of this type of product into a granulated feed using traditional methods leads to a total loss of protection against degradation in the rumen and subsequently to a loss of their efficacy in ruminant nutrition.

EXAMPLES ACCORDING TO THE INVENTION Example No. 1: Pellets containing active ingredients which are destroyed during pelletisation and granules of active ingredients protected against degradation in the rumen, and .o miscible in all proportions with the traditional granulated feed, are obtained by mixing the protected granules Sdescribed above and lactic acid bacteria (Enterococcus faecium) with a binder consisting of: dolomite 36.3 soybean meal 9.0 protected active ingredient 29.0 Enterococcus faecium containing 3 1010 CFU/g 3.1% water 12.9 lignosulphite containing 42 water 9.7 The mixture is prepared at 20 Celsius in a planetary mixer. The solid constituents are mixed in the dry state and the liquid binder is then introduced. Under these conditions, the moist paste is prepared very rapidly, thus the mixing time did not influence the quality of the final .e during a granules... o i inrdet rtce gis erdto ntermn n both heat and pressure by forcing a feed mixture tn-lougn a 15 product.

The mixture is shaped into particles of about 8 mm in diameter by extrusion at 200 Celsius in a laboratory press with a 70-mm diameter piston driven by a screw through a die containing a compression cone 120 mm in length for an initial diameter of 70 mm and an opening 8 mm in diameter.

The characteristics of this equipment make it possible to avoid breaking the granules of protected active ingredient.

The pellets thus obtained are dried in a ventilated oven at 45' Celsius in 5 hours and reduced into elements about 20 mm in length.

The residual level of protection of the protected active ingredient after maintaining for 24 hours in a solution at pH 6 remains unchanged (99.4 in the final product. The amino acid titre is 19.2 The level of bacteria remaining is 1.4 10 8 /g of dry product. The operational yield on the enumeration of unprotected bacteria according to the counting method below is 12.7 Granules (100 g) are taken and added to tryptone salt (900 ml), and the mixture is stirred. This solution constitutes the solution with a dilution of successive dilutions of 1 ml in 9 ml are carried out up to 10 9 The medium used to carry out the counting is the MRS medium.

The dilutions above (1 ml) are inoculated into the mass, the counting is performed after incubating the plates for 48 hours at 37°C.

Example No. 2:

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1 i y~s; i 16 Example 1 is repeated using: dolomite soybean meal protected active ingredient Enterococcus faecium containing 36.1 9.0 27.3 1.7 10'0 CFU/g 0.3 water 18.2 lignosulphite containing 42 water 9.1 The residual level of protection of the protected active ingredient after 24 hours at pH 6 remains unchanged (99.4 in the final product. The amino acid titre is 17.9 4, o *o 4 4.

.4,4( 64 The level of bacteria remaining is 0.7 108 CFU/g of the dry product. The yield on this operation on the 15 enumeration of unprotected lactic acid bacteria is 20 Example No. 3: Example 1 is repeated introducing: dolomite 19.8 soybean meal 9.9 protected active ingredient 34.3 Enterococcus faecium containing 3 1010 CFU/g 9.3 water 14.E ij 0 0 3 5 lignosulphite containing 42 water 11.6 The residual level of protection of the protected active ingredient after 24 hours at pH 6 remains unchanged (99.4 in the final product. The amino acid titre is 1 which are in granular form and which are protected against

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i- 17 18.8 The level of bacteria remaining is 3.9 108 CFU/g. The operational yield on the enumeration of unprotected lactic acid bacteria is 11 Example No. 4: Example 1 is repeated introducing: dolomite 29.3 soybean meal 7.5 protected active ingredient 29.5 Enterococcus faecium containing I4Ir

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3 1010 CFU/g 11.8 water 11.5 lignosulphite containing 42 water 9.8 The residual level of protection of the protected 15 active ingredient after 24 hours at pH 6 remains unchanged (99.4 in the final product. The amino acid titre is 19.4 The level of bacteria remaining is 5 108 CFU/g. The operational yield on the enumeration of unprotected lactic acid bacteria is 12 Example No. Example 1 is reproduced replacing the bacterium Enterococcus faecium with a Pediococcus pentosaceus strain containing 8 1010 CFU/g.

The residual level of protection of the protected active ingredient after 24 hours at pH 6 remains unchanged (99.4 in the final product. The amino acid titre is

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LL 18 17.9 The level of bacteria remaining is 0.083 108 CFU/g of dry product. The yield on this operation on the enumeration of unprotected lactic acid bacteria is 0.28 Example No. 6: Example 1 is repeated replacing the bacterium Enterococcus faecium with a Lactobacillus casei subsp.

rhamnosus strain containing 9.6 10 9 CFU/g.

The residual level of protection of the protected active ingredient after 24 hours at pH 6 remains unchanged (99;4 in the final product. The amino acid titre is 18.3 The level of bacteria remaining is 0.00029 108 CFU/g.

The operational yield on the enumeration of unprotected lactic acid bacteria is of the order of 0.01 Example No. 7: Example 1 is repeated modifying the drying conditions which are 5 hours at 55° Celsius.

The residual level of protection of the protected active ingredient after 24 hours at pH 6 remains unchanged (99.4 in the final product. The amino acid titre is 19.8 The level of bacteria remaining is 0.4 108 CFU/g. The operational yield on the enumeration of unprotected lactic acid bacteria is 3.6

Claims

1. Pellets comprising: an active ingredient which is unprotected against degradation in the rumen; (ii) a granular active ingredient which is protected against degradation in the rumen, but which is released in the abomasum and/or in the intestine; (iii) -a-seolble\ meltable, and optionally crosslinkable binder wujczV\ cs\ \n _#\oCe c v

2. Pellets according to claim 1 which further comprise a disintegrating agent and/or a filler.

3. Pellets according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the protected active ingredient is a vitamin, amino acid or medicinal product.

4. Pellets according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the protected active ingredient is protected by a pH-sensitive copolymer, a natural product or an enzymatically-degradable product.

Pellets according to claim 4, wherein the protected active ingredient is protected by a pH-sensitive copolymer based on vinylpyridine and styrene combined with a hydrophobic substance.

6. Pellets according to claim 4, wherein the natural product or enzymatically-degradable product comprises zein or chitosan.

7. Pellets according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the protected active ingredient is in f ~i ~r~ 20 o So 9 0 00 00 6 09 S0 0 0 9 0000 granular form with a mean diameter of from 0.3 to 5 mm.

8. Pellets according to claim 7, wherein the mean diameter is from 0.5 to 3 mm.

9. Pellets according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the unprotected active ingredient is a mineral or trace element, vitamin, glucose, fatty acid, yeast, growth factor, enzyme, microbial flora, fungus, peptide, sodium carbonate, sorbitol, propylene glycol, betaine or sodium propionate.

10. Pellets according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the crosslinkable binder comprises a hydrocolloid which is an alginate, gelatin, xanthan gum, cellulose derivative, other polysaccharide, molasses or vinasses.

11. Pellets according to any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the crosslinkable binder comprises an alginate, xanthan gum, molasses or vinasses, and a salt or oxide of a di- or tri-valent metal as a cross-linking agent, or wherein the crosslinkable binder comprises a protein and an aldehyde as a cross-linking agent.

12. Pellets according to any one of claims 1 to 9, which comprise a meltable binder which is a fatty acid, fatty alcohol, glycerol ester, polyethylene glycol, paraffin, natural or synthetic wax or hydrogenated animal or vegetable fat.

13. Pellets according to any one of claims 1 to 9, a 00 a a 0 I 0000 tI ti 90 0 I I 00 0 1 1 ±uvenlon are preferably chosen from feed materials F/i 21 wherein the binding agent is a vegetable meal.

14. Pellets according to any one of claims 2 to 13 wherein the disintegrating agent is a grain meal, ground oil- cake, brewery or fermentation residue, a by-product of cereal or timber or cellulose fibre.

Pellets according to claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore described in any one of Examples 1 to 7.

16. A process for the preparation of pellets as claimed in claim 1 which process comprises mixing: an active ingredient which is unprotected against *Oio degradation in the rumen; 0 (ii) a granular active ingredient which is protected against *t degradation in the rumen but which is released in the abomasum and/or in the intestine; (iii)a separate, soluble, dispersible or meltable, and .I optionally crosslinkable bioder which disintegrates in the rumen, and forming pellets in the absence of steam.

17. A process according to claim 16 in which the pellets are formed by extruding the mixture at a temperature of less than 100'C.

18. A process according to claim 16 which is substantially as hereinbefore described in any one of Examples 1 to 7. S19. Pellets according to any one of claims 1 to 15 when prepared by a process according to any on( of claims 16 to 18. An animal feed comprising, as a nutritional or medicinal supplement, pellets according to any one of claims 1 to 15 or

19. Dated this 23rd day of August, 1994 Rhone-Poulenc Nutrition Animale By its Patent Attorneys, Davies Collison Cave )C34 ABSTRACT PELLETS CONTAINING ACTIVE INGREDIENTS UNPROTECTED WITH RESPECT TO THE RUMEN OF RUMINANTS AND ACTIVE INGREDIENTS PROTECTED AGAINST DEGRADATION IN THE RUMEN OF RUMINANTS The present invention relates to novel pellets comprising an active ingredient which is unprotected against S" degradation in the rumen; (ii) a granular active ingredient which is protected against degradation in the rumen, but which is released in the abomasum and/or in the intestine; (iii) a soluble or meltable, and optionally crosslinkable binder, and optionally, a disintegrating agent and/or a filler. The pellets are suitable for use as a feed and/or medicinal supplenent for ruminants.