Nutrition: Definition of Terms

Study Notes

Nutrition: Study of processes transforming food into body elements; includes ingestion, digestion, absorption, transport, metabolism, and waste removal.
Food/Feed: Any material from plants or animals providing nutrition, including by-products (e.g., corn, fish meal).
Feedstuff: Natural or synthetic materials with nutritional value when used properly (e.g., corn, vitamin premixes).
Nutrients: Essential substances in the diet, including carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water.
Ration: Daily food portion supplied to animals, balanced for nutritional needs.
Diet: The type of food offered to animals, which may or may not meet nutritional requirements.
Digestion: Breakdown of food through mechanical, enzymatic, and microbial processes to prepare for absorption.
Absorption: Process of transporting digested nutrients to cells and tissues throughout the body.
Metabolism: Utilization of digested nutrients for energy and bodily functions, producing ATP, carbon dioxide, and metabolic water.
Metabolic Water: Water generated from the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins within the cells.

Proximate Composition:
- Carbohydrates: High in plants (up to 75%), negligible in animals.
- Fats: Low in plants (3-10%), high in animals (20%).
- Proteins: Vary from low to high in plants (3-45%), generally high in animals.
- Minerals and Water: Both significant in plants and animals, with plants having low mineral content (<0.5%).

Major energy source in animal diets; 75% of plant dry weight.
Composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Types:
- Monosaccharides: Simple sugars (e.g., glucose).
- Disaccharides: Composed of two simple sugars (e.g., maltose).
- Polysaccharides: Multiple simple sugars (e.g., starch, cellulose).

Present in plants and animals; insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents.
Yield fatty acids and glycerol upon hydrolysis.
Types:
- Simple Lipids: Fatty acids combined with alcohol.
- Compound Lipids: Fatty acids combined with other compounds (e.g., phospholipids).

Composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and iron; essential for body structure.
Amino Acids:
- Essential: Must be obtained from diet (e.g., lysine, threonine).
- Non-essential: Can be synthesized by the body (e.g., glycine, alanine).

Inorganic elements crucial for animal health; classified as macro-minerals (e.g., calcium, phosphorus) and micro-minerals (e.g., iron, zinc).

Organic substances vital for life; required in small amounts.
Fat-soluble: (e.g., vitamins A, D, E, K) stored in body tissues.
Water-soluble: Required for metabolic processes (e.g., B vitamins, vitamin C).

Essential for life, composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
Sources include spring water, feed moisture, and metabolic water produced from nutrient metabolism.

Determines water, organic, and inorganic matter in feeds, with methods varying from drying to digestion and extraction.
Nitrogen Balance: Measures nitrogen retention from feed versus losses in feces.