Nutrient Categories Study Notes

Nutrient: A dietary essential for one or more species of animals.
- Importance: Nutrients supplied by the feeds consumed are more critical than the actual feeds themselves.
- Variation: Not all animals require the same nutrients; however, their requirements may be similar at the tissue level.
- Influence of Digestion:
- Ruminants have a simpler dietary nutrient requirement compared to non-ruminants due to nutrients supplied by digestive system ruminal microbes.

Composed of amino acids.
- 20 amino acids in animal proteins:
- Essential Amino Acids (must be provided in the diet):
  - PVT TIM HALL: phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, histidine, arginine, leucine, lysine.
- Nonessential Amino Acids (can be synthesized by the body):
  - alanine, aspartic acid, cysteine, cystine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, tyrosine.
Determining Crude Protein:
- Formulated as approximately $rac{100}{16}$ = 6.25
- Note: Some proteins (such as wheat protein) may not contain exactly 16% Nitrogen (N), leading to the use of different correction factors based on % N.

Production in Plants: Derived through the process of photosynthesis:
- Chemical reaction: $CO<em>2 + H</em>2O <br>ightarrow ext{sugars (five and six carbon)}$
Basic Unit of Carbohydrates:
- Monosaccharides: Simple sugars such as glucose, galactose, and fructose.
- Disaccharides: Composed of two monosaccharides. Examples include:
- Sucrose (table sugar) = glucose + fructose
- Lactose (milk sugar) = galactose + glucose
- Maltose = $ext{α-glucose + α-glucose}$
- Cellobiose = $ext{β-glucose + β-glucose}$
- Polysaccharides: Complex carbohydrates made up of multiple monosaccharides. Examples include starch and cellulose.

Definition: Lipids are compounds typically measured by ether extraction, known as ether extract or crude fat.
Types of Lipids:
- Fats and Oils: The most important lipids for animal feeding.
- Fats: Generally solid at room temperature, composed typically of saturated fatty acids.
- Oils: Generally liquid at room temperature, composed typically of unsaturated fatty acids.
Chemical Structure:
- Composed of glycerol esterified to three fatty acid molecules.
- Parameters of Fatty Acids:
  1. Vary in chain length and degree of saturation.
  2. Saturated Fatty Acids: Have no double bonds.
  3. Unsaturated Fatty Acids: Have one or more double bonds.

Macrominerals: Required in relatively large amounts (typically in percentage or fraction of percentage) in the diet. Includes:
- calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, potassium, magnesium, sulfur.
Microminerals (Trace Minerals): Required in relatively small amounts (usually mg/kg) in the diet. Includes:
- copper, chromium, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, zinc.
Note: Some minerals may be essential for metabolic functions but are not practically required in diets. Examples include:
- silicon, nickel, arsenic, vanadium, tin.

Characteristics of Vitamins:
1. Organic nutrients that are neither carbohydrates, proteins, nor lipids.
2. Required in very small dietary amounts.
3. Essential for normal metabolism.
4. Dietary inadequacy produces specific deficiency symptoms.
5. Cannot normally be synthesized by the body (exceptions: Vitamin D, niacin, Vitamin C).
Classification of Vitamins:
- Fat Soluble: Vitamins A, D, E, and K.
- Water Soluble: Includes thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), pyridoxine (B6), cyanocobalamin (B12), pantothenic acid, nicotinic acid (niacin), folic acid (folacin), biotin, choline, and Vitamin C (ascorbic acid).

Significance: Most vital nutrient for all life.
- Loss of body composition:
- Can lose nearly all body fat, 50% protein, but only 10% body water leads to dehydration, possibly resulting in death.
- Sources of Water:
- Drinking water
- Free water (not chemically bound; moisture content in feeds)
- Metabolic water (chemically bound, released through metabolic processes)
- Water quality is critical; it should contain less than 0.25% solids for safe consumption.