Currently, a major challenge for domestic animal production is to reduce the undesirable environmental effects associated with this. This applies in particular to P input into the environment through fertilization / manure and the resulting potential eutrophication of ground and surface water. For this reason, a rather scarce P supply that just meets the animals’ demand should be aimed for, since any surplus of P in animal feed is introduced into the environment via manure. Against this background, a tailor-made P content in particular feedstuff represents a new “quality characteristic”, towards which the compound feeds available today will be optimized.

For a corresponding P-optimization in animal feed by means of P separation and/or conversion into P-forms available to animals, the bran as a widely used feed (1.5 Mt/a in Germany) is examined within this project as an example. For this purpose, technically feasible processes for feed conditioning are to be developed with the aid of various biocatalytic and/or mechanical-chemical processes. These processes will finally be evaluated technically as well as from an economic and environmental perspective within the framework of integrated biorefinery concepts.