Chelates in Animal Nutrition - Brief History of Chelates

Brief History of Chelates

Since the 1950s, animal feeds have been supplemented with essential trace minerals such as copper (Cu), iron (Fe), iodine (I), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn). Initially, such supplementation was by means of inorganic salts of essential trace elements. From the 1960s onwards, genetic improvement of farm livestock resulted in increased nutritional requirements for these nutrients. Chelated minerals were developed in the 1980s and 1990s. Trace mineral chelates have proven to be better than inorganic minerals in meeting the nutritional needs of modern farm animals.