Table 3.

Kibble characteristics out of the extruder and drier, shrinkage, and macrostructure of dry cat foods with varying fiber sources

Kibble parameter	MG	CE	BP	SEM	P-value
Out of the extruder
Wet bulk density, g/L	306	313	314	9.40	0.723
Bulk density = 330 g/L, P-value	0.1994	0.1970	0.0833
Length, mm	7.57	8.04	6.20	0.49	0.107
Diameter, mm	7.87	8.32	7.67	0.40	0.412
Out of the drier
Length, mm	6.77	7.49	5.73	0.51	0.162
Diameter, mm	6.75	7.10	7.12	0.43	0.733
SEI, mm2/mm2	3.58	3.92	3.95	0.45	0.750
Weight, g	0.126	0.118	0.131	0.0067	0.458
Volume, cm3	0.254	0.297	0.235	0.047	0.616
Density, g/cm3	0.593	0.400	0.597	0.109	0.371
Kibble texture analysis
Hardness, N	6.18	5.87	7.55	0.55	0.138
Compression energy, N mm	5145ab	6917a	3591b	693.78	0.029

^abMeans with unlike superscripts differ, P < 0.05.