Agriculture grade 12 summary notes

Animal Nutrition

The study of how animals consume and utilize food.

Ingestion

The process of taking food into the mouth.

Digestion

The breakdown of food into smaller molecules.

Absorption

The process of taking in digested food into the bloodstream.

Assimilation

The incorporation of food into body cells after absorption.

Egestion

The elimination of undigested waste from the body.

Ruminant

Animals that have a specialized stomach with multiple compartments for digesting fibrous food, such as cattle and sheep.

Monogastric

Animals with a single-chambered stomach, such as pigs and humans.

Peristalsis

Involuntary muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract.

Fermentation

The metabolic process converting sugars to acids, gases, or alcohol using microorganisms.

Hydrochloric Acid

An acid in the stomach that aids digestion and kills harmful bacteria.

Saliva

The fluid secreted by salivary glands that begins the digestion of food.

Villi

Small finger-like projections in the intestine that increase the surface area for absorption.

Proventriculus

The glandular part of the stomach in birds that secretes digestive enzymes.

Gizzard

A muscular part of the stomach in birds that grinds food.

Biological Value (BV)

A measure of protein quality based on its amino acid composition.

Gross Energy (GE)

The total energy content of a feed before any losses.

Digestibility Coefficient

A measure of how much of a particular feed can be digested and absorbed by the animal.

Nitrogenous Compounds

Organic compounds that contain nitrogen and are essential for the synthesis of proteins.

Essential Nutrients

Nutrients that must be supplied in the diet because they cannot be synthesized by the body.