Did you know that we use Apple Concentrate in our pellets?
Apple Concentrate contains a sugar called fructose which is the type of sugar that parrots can utilise as a nutrient for energy.
Parrots can not convert sucrose into energy. Sucrose is commonly known as “table sugar” and it is a “disaccharide”, a double-component sugar made up of fructose and glucose. Humans and animals have an enzyme (sucrase) that can break down sucrose into 2 monosaccharide sugars (fructose and glucose). Glucose and fructose then serve as nutrients for humans and animals.
Parrots do not have the enzyme (sucrase) so the nutritional value of sucrose is zero and the sucrose can not be used as a nutrient. The presence of sucrose in the intestines causes an increased water intake by the parrot and it also extracts more liquid from the parrot’s body with the result of a more watery feaces or sometimes a mild diarrhea.
Fructose is a “monosaccharide”, it is a “simple sugar” that is therefore easily utilized by parrots as an energy source and therefore provides nutritional value for the parrot.
Sucrose has no value for parrots and is just a sweetener to cheat them to make the food more tasty.
It is a very old technique that was applied in the 1980’s to increase the palatability of “processed” bird food.
Our Apple Concentrate contains fructose which can be utilised by parrots. Sucrose has no value or benefits, only consequences.
We, as parrot owners, have a responsibility to keep parrots healthy. So remember to always check the ingredients of your parrot’s food.