E.C.O.Trace® Iron

Iron is important for healthy animals. Its primary role is as a component of hemoglobin and myoglobin, which are key to the transport and movement of oxygen throughout the body. Iron also functions in several enzymes that are key to energy metabolism and is a component of the antioxidant system.

Despite iron’s importance, it is often supplemented as inorganic iron such as sulfate. However, inorganic iron is easily separated in the gut allowing for the formation of insoluble complexes with other free metals or other dietary components. This results in unabsorbed iron being excreted in the feces, potentially contaminating the environment.

Organically bound iron is an iron bound to a single amino acid or a small peptide from hydrolyzed soy protein. Organic iron has greater binding strength and is better protected from antagonistic effects in the gut. The result is iron that is better absorbed and metabolized, with a direct impact on animal health and productivity.

E.C.O.Trace® Iron is an organic form of iron bound to the amino acid glycine, also commonly known as glycinate. This has numerous advantages over inorganic forms of iron such as iron sulfate. The iron-glycine complex provides superior stability at the low pH found in the gastrointestinal tract. This results in fewer insoluble complexes between different dietary compounds in the gut and less antagonistic effects between mineral transport. In addition, effective transport to the intestinal wall and beneficial absorption rate leads to higher bioavailability.

Iron is only a small part of the total feed—but it makes all the difference! Iron can only provide nutritional value if it is absorbed. E.C.O.Trace® Iron has been successfully used in high-performance animal feeds with proven superior absorption over inorganic iron. E.C.O.Trace® Iron glycine-chelates are an easy choice!