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Plant flour for pelleting and extrusion: a binder and a source of plant protein.
In dry dog and cat food production, plant flour plays two roles: chickpea and red lentil flour as the protein component of the formulation, and rice, corn, buckwheat and oat flour as the starch carrier.
Kaskad LLC supplies pet food manufacturers with plant flour — the product of milling grain and pulses. This is a fundamentally different commodity from "feed meal" in the sense the industry usually gives that phrase, which means meat and bone meal, fish meal or blood meal of animal origin. Our material is plant-based, produced on a food mill under our own technical specifications, and it enters a formulation from a different direction: as a carrier of starch that binds the pellet, and as a source of plant protein.
This page is written for the pet food technologist selecting the plant component for a specific line — a pelleting press with a conditioner, or an extruder — and who needs figures for milling, moisture and composition rather than general statements. What follows: what flour actually does during pelleting, which seven products in our range are applicable and how they split into two functional groups, what our limits fix, and where the boundary of our claims sits. There are no retail formats here: we ship industrial batches in 30 and 50 kg sacks.
This is the first thing to separate, because the names are easy to confuse while the markets behind them do not overlap at all.
Table: Separating the terms
| Term | What it is | Available from Kaskad LLC |
|---|---|---|
| Feed meal | Products of animal origin: meat and bone meal, meat meal, fish meal, blood meal, feather meal. Different raw material, different production, different regulation | No. We neither produce nor supply it |
| Plant flour | The product of milling cereal and pulse grains: starch, protein and mineral fractions together | Yes. Seven products in our range suit feed formulations |
The practical conclusion: if the "flour" line in your specification refers to a protein component of animal origin, we are not the supplier. If it refers to the plant component of the formulation, a starch carrier or a pellet binder, read on.
Flour's role in a feed formulation is not "filling volume" but a specific piece of technological work, and it is governed by starch.
Binding the pellet. In the conditioner and in the high-pressure zone of an extruder, starch gelatinises, binds water and forms the matrix that holds the pellet together after the die and after drying. The higher the starch fraction of the raw material, the greater its contribution to binding at the same inclusion rate. Our products differ markedly on this: from 42.0 g of carbohydrate per 100 g in red lentil flour to 81.0 g in rice flour — nearly double.
Behaviour during extrusion. Beyond starch, the fat base affects the process: fat acts as a lubricant in the die zone and changes the degree of expansion of the extrudate. Here the spread is wider still — from 1.0 g in lentil flour to 6.2 g in chickpea flour, more than sixfold. This is not "better or worse" but a parameter to account for when setting the inclusion rate and the line.
Hydration in the conditioner. A fine grind gives a larger specific surface area, so flour hydrates faster and more evenly than grits of the same grain. That is precisely why particle size in a feed application is not a secondary characteristic but the parameter that determines how stable the process runs.
Table: Particle size of Kaskad LLC flour
| Milling parameter | Limit |
|---|---|
| Passing a 160 µm sieve (No. 38) | not less than 60.0% |
| Retained on a 250 µm sieve (No. 27) | not more than 2.0% |
The first figure sets the share of the fine fraction; the second caps the coarse one — no more than 2% retained on a 250 µm sieve. Together they give a narrower particle size distribution than a general-purpose mill: less segregation in the mixer and predictable water absorption batch after batch.
The moisture limit under the TU: flour — not more than 15.0%. For a feed plant this is an input to two calculations at once: the moisture of the mash before conditioning, and the stability of the raw material itself in store before use.
Milling is done to the customer's brief. The SPC line is not a ready-made catalogue product but a mode of working: milling and particle size distribution, moisture, microbiological limits and pack format are fixed to your technical brief before the batch is run. It starts with a trial batch and laboratory testing on your side; series production follows once the results are confirmed.
The list divides into two functional groups, and that is how it should be divided — not by grain type.
Table: Kaskad LLC plant raw materials for feed formulations, per 100 g
| Product | Available lines | Protein, g | Fat, g | Carbohydrate, g | Shelf life |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red lentil flour | STD, TXT | 28.0 | 1.0 | 42.0 | 12 months |
| Chickpea flour | STD, TXT | 20.6 | 6.2 | 53.2 | 18 months |
| Buckwheat flour | STD, TXT | 13.6 | 1.2 | 71.9 | 18 months |
| Sorghum flour | STD | 10.6 | 4.1 | 60.0 | 18 months |
| Oat flour | STD, TXT | 10.25 | 2.0 | 71.7 | 12 months |
| Corn flour | STD, TXT, SPC | 7.2 | 1.5 | 72.1 | 12 months |
| Rice flour | STD, TXT, SUP | 6.0 | 1.4 | 81.0 | 18 months |
Average nutritional values are given. Depending on the origin of the produce, actual values may differ.
The note above is reproduced verbatim from the product labelling and applies to every row of the table. Actual figures for a given batch are confirmed by the batch document, not by the values on this page.
Group one — pulses: the plant protein source. Red lentil flour (28.0 g) and chickpea flour (20.6 g) are the two highest-protein products in the entire range, and the gap to the cereals is more than fourfold: 28.0 against 6.0 for rice. Their carbohydrate share, however, is the lowest on the list (42.0 and 53.2 g), so their contribution to pellet binding is smaller — these are formulation components, not the starch base of one.
Group two — cereals: starch carrier and binder. Rice (81.0 g), corn (72.1 g), buckwheat (71.9 g) and oat (71.7 g) flour sit as a tight group at the top of the carbohydrate scale. Rice is the highest figure in the whole range and at the same time the most neutral product in colour and aroma.
Sorghum flour is a separate case. On carbohydrate (60.0 g) and protein (10.6 g) it sits mid-scale, but it carries the second-highest fat base on the list at 4.1 g. It is also the only product in the range available in the standard STD line alone: there is no heat-treated or SPC version of sorghum.
Shelf life is a property of the individual product, not a shared constant. The list carries two values: 18 months for chickpea, buckwheat, sorghum and rice flour; 12 months for red lentil, oat and corn. There is no single figure covering the whole list, and purchase planning has to take it row by row rather than "on average".
Heat-treated flour is a processing mode, not a separate grain. Its starch has already been modified thermally on our side, so it binds water without an additional thermal step on your line, and the moisture of the material itself goes to specification.
For feed manufacturing this is relevant in two cases: in wet and semi-moist formulations with no steam conditioning stage, and in treats and coatings where heating the mass is undesirable. Six of the seven products on the list are available in the TXT line — all except sorghum.
A separate product to brief. Heat-treated flour is produced in the TXT and SPC lines; the base grain and the parameters are stated in the batch specification, and the shelf life is set by that same specification. We do not publish nutritional data for this product: it depends on the base grain, and a calculated number in a specification is no better than an invented one.
AOECS — the Crossed Grain Trademark. Licence certificate No. UA0012026, licence number UA-001, valid until 06.02.2027. Gluten content is below 20 ppm. Kaskad LLC was the first company in Ukraine to be granted this right. For pet food manufacturers positioning a product as gluten-free or grain-free, that is a document rather than a claim.
ISO 22000:2018. Certificate No. ODS-397/QS, the ICEC certification body, valid until 19.09.2028. Scope, document numbers and limits — quality and certification.
Kosher. Certificate issued by The Jewish Community of Dnipro, Kosher Department, dated 17.02.2026.
Table: Other limits fixed in our technical specifications
| Parameter | Limit |
|---|---|
| Metallic impurities | not more than 3.0 mg/kg |
| Ash on a dry basis | not more than 0.75% |
| Infestation by grain-store pests | not permitted |
| Gluten content | below 20 ppm |
The metallic impurity limit and the infestation requirement are not formalities for a feed line: the first bears on die and knife wear, the second on intake and storage conditions in your own warehouse.
Raw material origin. Our grain is Ukrainian. We import only what is not grown or produced in Ukraine.
Batch documents. A batch is accompanied by a quality passport or a manufacturer's declaration. A certificate of analysis (COA) is prepared where required, by separate agreement.
Everything stated on this page comes from a specific document — technical specifications, product labelling, a manufacturer's declaration or a certificate with a number and an expiry date. Any of these sources is provided on request before a contract is signed, not after.
Packaging. Industrial packaging is sacks of 30 and 50 kg. Bulky products are packed by actual weight: because of its low bulk density, oat flour goes out as 25 kg in a 30 kg sack — not a short weight but the normal way this material is packed, and the batch document states the actual weight. Non-standard formats are agreed as a technical brief, including for private label production.
Storage conditions. Verbatim from the document: store in dry, well-ventilated premises free from grain-store pests.
Table: Entry terms for a new customer
| Stage | Terms |
|---|---|
| Validation samples | free of charge, up to 5 kg |
| Sample lead time | 5 days |
| Minimum order quantity | one sack (30 or 50 kg) |
Five kilograms is enough for laboratory analysis and a trial run of the process on your own line. After validation, a first order can be as small as one sack — there is no one-tonne minimum standing between a sample and series supply. For products made to a technical brief the sequence is the same, with a trial batch sized to your testing added before series production.
Looking for finished pet food rather than raw material to make it?
Kaskad LLC does not manufacture pet food: we supply plant raw materials to feed manufacturers in industrial batches of 30 and 50 kg sacks. Food products under the Ms.Tally brand in 0.2–1 kg retail packs are available in our Ms.Tally retail shop — those are foods for people, not feed.
Not if "feed meal" means products of animal origin — meat and bone, meat, fish, blood or feather meal. We produce plant flour from cereal and pulse grains, which is used in feed formulations as a binder and as a source of plant protein.
Seven: red lentil, chickpea, buckwheat, sorghum, oat, corn and rice flour. The first two are the highest-protein products in the range (28.0 and 20.6 g per 100 g); the rest are starch carriers with a carbohydrate share from 60.0 to 81.0 g.
By starch fraction, rice flour is highest — 81.0 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, the highest figure in the range. Corn (72.1), buckwheat (71.9) and oat (71.7) follow. The pulse products have a lower carbohydrate share (chickpea 53.2, red lentil 42.0), so in a formulation they work as a protein component rather than as the starch base.
Yes. Milling and particle size distribution, moisture, microbiological limits and pack format are agreed to your technical brief before the batch is run — that is the SPC line. The work starts with a trial batch and laboratory testing on your side; series production follows once the results are confirmed. The standard milling limits are: not less than 60.0% passing a 160 µm sieve and not more than 2.0% retained on a 250 µm sieve.
The moisture limit under the TU: flour — not more than 15.0%. The limit is fixed in the technical specifications; the actual value for a batch is in the quality passport or manufacturer's declaration travelling with the delivery.
Heat-treated flour binds water without an additional thermal step on your line, and its own moisture goes to specification. That is relevant in wet and semi-moist formulations with no steam conditioning stage, and in treats and coatings where heating the mass is undesirable. Six of the seven products are available in the TXT line — all except sorghum.
Sacks of 30 and 50 kg, with a minimum order of one sack. Oat flour, as a bulky product, goes out as 25 kg in a 30 kg sack. Samples are provided free of charge, up to 5 kg, within 5 days.
Phone: +38 099 977 74 43, +38 050 595 75 62 · Email: office@tovkaskad.com · Personal data
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