ANIMAL NUTRITION

• USDA in 1943 and 1946 highlighted the role of fats in healthy diets
• Prout (1827) proposed the need for 3 classes of food: saccharine, oily, and albuminous
• Lavoisier introduced the concept of metabolism in 1770
• Lavoisier worked with mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace on an ice calorimeter
• The first major investigation of metabolizable energy (ME) in poultry was conducted at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
• Future advancements in animal nutrition include improvements in genetics, the use of technologies like CRISPR/Cas9, TALEN, and Zinc finger, and the continued reliance on soybean meal as a protein source
• In the 1950s, experiments on essential amino acids were conducted
• Berthollet (1785) decomposed animal matter and produced ammonia
• Casimir Funk, a Polish biochemist, introduced the concept of vitamins in 1912
• Feed additives like feed enzymes and organic acids are used as alternatives to AGPs
• Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was a French bourgeois and considered the Father of Nutrition and Chemistry
• Lavoisier was involved in the chemical revolution in France in the 1700s and had an interest in metabolism, particularly the consumption of O2 and production of CO2
• The term 'calorie' in France originally referred to the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C
• Proteins were first used in 1834
• In 1939, W.H. Titus published a paper 'Practical Nutritive Requirements of Poultry' which focused on the economic control of energy in poultry
• Minerals, especially calcium and phosphorus, were extensively studied in the 1960s
• In 1913, fat-soluble vitamins were discovered in Madison, Wisconsin
• Feed processing techniques like pelletizing, extruders, and expanders are used to improve feed intake and reduce bacterial contamination
• Scurvy, a sailor's disease, was cured by citrus fruits as discovered by Lind in 1747
• The animal body consists of muscle, bone, fluids, protein, water, ash, phospholipids, carbohydrates (glycogen), and storage lipids
• Liebig (1846) proved the existence of the 3 classes of food proposed by Prout
• Smaller components of dry matter

  • Nucleic acids - N-containing, carry genetic information
  • Organic acids - intermediates in metabolism, pyruvic acid (Krebs cycle)
  • Vitamins - components of enzyme systems
  • Inorganic matter - Potassium and silicone for plants, Ca and P for animals
• Roughage vs concentrates

  • Roughages mostly viewed as grasses and legumes, high fiber content
  • Concentrates grains, oils, processed plant and animal products, low fiber content, greater concentration of non-ruminant indigestible carbohydrates and protein
• Components of animal body

  • Muscle
  • Bone
  • Fluids
  • Protein
  • Water
  • Ash
  • Phospholipids
  • Carbohydrates (glycogen)
  • Storage lipids (adipose tissue)
  • Lipids and protein (energy)
• Sources of water

  • Drinking water
  • Feed
  • Metabolic water (oxidation of H-containing organic nutrients)
• Simple Sugars Classification

  • Simple sugars - readily digested and absorbed, less than 10 monosaccharide residues
  • Non-sugars - more than 10 monosaccharide residues, glycans (monosaccharide polymers)
• Deoxyribose (C5H10O4) does have the same proportion of H and O as that of water
• Feed components in relation to animal body maintenance and products

  • Material ingested that may be digested, absorbed and utilized
  • Some food (forage) are feed but not all components can be digested
• Dry matter and its components

  • Plants mainly carbohydrates
  • Oilseeds (legumes) have high protein and lipids
  • Fiber components increase with age
  • Animal mainly protein
  • Lipid content related to age - the older the higher the fat content
• Carbohydrates contain C, H, O, and the H and O are similar in proportion as that in water
• Feed component analysis

  1. Proximate analysis - six fractions, crude analysis

  2. Moisture - oven dry

  3. Ash - minerals

  4. Crude protein - based on N content

  5. Crude Fat - ether extract

  6. Nitrogen free extract - carbohydrates
• Monosaccharides Classification

  • Trioses, Tetroses, Pentoses, Hexoses, Heptoses
  • Monosaccharides have reducing properties, metal ions, copper and silver in alkaline solution
• Carbohydrates Classification


  • 75% of plants dry matter is carbohydrates
  • 1.0-1.5% carbohydrates in animal tissues(liver, muscles)
  • Classification: Simple sugars, Non-sugars
• Pentoses

  • L-arabinose occurs as arabinan pentosans, important component of hemicellulose in silage and gum arabic component
• Monosaccharides have reducing properties
• 1. forms of fructose

  Biologically important
• 1. Ribose


  • Present in living cells as part of RNA and component of several vitamins
• Lactose

  • Milk sugar, composed of β-D-glucose and β-D-galactose
• 1. glucose


  • Occurs in plants, fruits, blood, lymph, cerebrospinal fluid
• Disaccharides

  • Sucrose, maltose, lactose, cellobiose