Predict how Zinc Oxide works?
- Admin
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
In piglet nutrition, zinc oxide has long been a trusted ally. For decades, nutritionists have relied on it to fight post-weaning diarrhea, boost gut health, and help young pigs thrive through their most fragile weeks.
Yet behind this familiar white, black or yellow powder lies a deeper truth: not all zinc oxide is created equal. While many feed formulators focus on the dosage, how many kilograms per ton, how many weeks in the program, the real story, and often the real problem, comes down to something less obvious: the physical and chemical nature of the zinc oxide itself.
The analysis of multiple zinc oxide sources used across Asia and beyond has enabled to identify three distinct families of products, illustrated by different color and each behaving differently in the piglet’s digestive tract and each with its own consequences for antibacterial efficacy.
Family One: White, Fast, and Short-Lived
The first family of zinc oxide products is typically white in color and comes mostly from Asian sources. These products have small particle size, low density, but relatively high surface area.
At first, they look like strong performers. The high surface area suggests plenty of material ready to interact with bacteria, giving a sharp antibacterial punch, on paper at least.
But once these small, light particles hit the piglet’s stomach acid, they dissolve rapidly, sometimes too rapidly. The zinc ions release so quickly that by the time they meet bacteria, the antibacterial effect has already faded away.
To compensate, nutritionists often increase the dosage, usually pushing up to 3 kilograms per ton of feed. But this raises serious concerns:
Toxicity risks, especially if used for more than two weeks
Reduction of feed intake as zinc taste is rejected by piglets
Blocking actions of phytases
Environmental burdens due to zinc excretion
Regulatory red flags as authorities tighten controls on heavy metal use
These products behave like a sparkler — bright and intense, but burning out too quickly to make a lasting difference.
Family Two: Black, Heavy, and Too Slow to Act
The second family comes mostly from American sources and is easily recognizable by its black color. These zinc oxide products feature large particle size and high density, but have low surface area, usually under 3 square meters per gram.
These products dissolve slowly in the stomach — much more slowly than the first family. But here’s the downside: with such low surface area, their ability to interact with bacteria is minimal.
It’s like throwing large black stones into the digestive system — they sit there, but only the outer layer touches the environment, offering little antibacterial effect.
As a result, nutritionists in the USA often increase the dosage dramatically, up to 4 kilograms per ton, just to achieve modest antibacterial activity leading to the same issues of overdosage
Family three: porous, powerful, and predictable
That source of zinc oxide appears a yellow powder. It combines large particle size like the black American products, but with one key difference: they also offer high surface area like the white zinc oxide.
How? Through a porous structure. Unlike dense, solid particles, these materials are riddled with microscopic channels and pores, dramatically boosting their effective surface area to 40 square meters per gram.
This combination delivers long-lasting antibacterial action, with controlled release of zinc ions across the stomach. This unique combination enables a reduction of the dosage between 6 to 10 times lower than the other sources of Zinc Oxide toxicity risks and environmental impact.
How to ensure predictability?
It is no longer enough to assume that zinc oxide from any supplier will behave predictably. To secure consistent antibacterial efficacy, nutritionists must include proper quality control in their procurement process.
Specifically, every batch of zinc oxide should be checked for:
o Surface area (m²/g)
o Particle size
o Density
Without controlling these three key physicochemical parameters, the farm and the feed mill are exposed to increased feed variability, fluctuating performance, and rising risks.
Predictability isn’t a luxury — it’s an essential part of responsible nutrition management. By ensuring these parameters are consistently measured and controlled, nutritionists can safeguard both the health of the piglets and the long-term sustainability of the production system.
If you are interested in qualifying your source of zinc oxide, send me a sample and we will do the analysis for you.
David Serène
NutriSPICES Director
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