Chapter 3. Nutrients & Metabolism

Vocabulary flashcards covering key nutrients (water, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, minerals, vitamins), their functions, metabolism, and related concepts in animal nutrition, based on the provided lecture notes.

Nutrition

A series of processes by which an animal takes in and assimilates feed components for promoting growth, milk or fiber production, and replacing worn or injured tissues.

Water

A vital nutrient comprising 60-70% of an animal's body weight, functioning as a solvent, transport medium, and cooling agent.

Carbohydrates (CHO)

The primary component found in livestock feeds, used to store energy in plants as glucose.

Amylose

An enzyme, primarily produced in the pancreas, that converts starch into glucose.

Ruminant Carbohydrate Metabolism

ruminant animal breaks down cellulose, hemicellulose and other cobohydrates in the rumen and large intestine as a result of microbial action by bacteria, protozoa, and fungi

Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs)

Short-chain fatty acids (acetic, propionic, butyric) produced by microbial digestion in ruminants, serving as a primary energy source.

Lignin

An undigestible polymer that combines with plant cellular wall components of plants

Proteins (CHON)

Nutrients found in the second highest concentration in the body, essential for growth and tissue repair.

Amino Acids

The building blocks of proteins, with 20 different types, each containing an amino group with nitrogen.

Lipids (Fats)

Organic compounds insoluble in water

Fatty Acids

The building blocks of fats.

Minerals (Ca, P, Cl, Mg, K, Na, S)

Inorganic components of the diet, important for structural rigidity of the skeleton, classified as macro or micro.

Vitamins (C, H, O)

Organic substances required by animal tissues in very small amounts, classified as water-soluble or fat-soluble.

liver

the major storage site for most vitamins