2.

CONCENTRATES (Part 2)

2a Sources of energy : Cereal grains and cereal by-products / Fats / Sugars

2b Sources of proteins: Leguminous seeds, Oilseed cakes and meals, Animal protein,
Milk products, Single-cell protein, Synthetic amino acids,
Non-protein nitrogen compounds as protein sources

2b. Sources of proteins

1 Oilseed cakes and meals
2 Leguminous seeds
3 Animal protein concentrates
4 Milk products
5 Single-cell protein
6 Synthetic amino acids
7 Non-protein nitrogen compounds as protein sources

1. OILSEED CAKES AND MEALS

Oilseed cakes and meals are the residues remaining after removal of the greater part of the oil
from oilseeds. The residues are rich in protein (200–500g/kg) and most are valuable foods for farm
animals.
For example, the total usage of these products by the animal feed industry in UK in 2008 was of
the order of 2.6 million tonnes. Soya bean meal made up about 45 per cent of the total, rapeseed
meal around 30% and sunflower meal about 15% was the largest protein raw materials used in animal
feed in UK. The remaining 10 per cent encompassed a wide range of less well-known products such
as sheanut, sesame, linseed and cotton seed meals.
Most oilseed residues are of tropical origin; they include groundnut (peanuts), cotton seed and
soya bean. Some seeds such as castor bean yield residues are unsuitable for animal consumption
because they contain toxic substances.
Two main processes are used for removing oil from oilseeds. One uses pressure to force out the
oil, and the other uses an organic solvent, usually hexane, to dissolve the oil from the seed.
Removal of the husk lowers the crude fibre content and has an important effect in improving the
apparent digestibility of the other constituents. As a result, the nutritive value of the decorticated cake
is raised significantly above that of the undecorticated cake. The latter is suitable for feeding adult
ruminants only. In this class of animal, it may have a particular role in maintaining the fibre levels of
the diets. Undecorticated cakes are rarely produced nowadays but partial decortication is widely
practised.
Some of the oilseed proteins approach animal proteins such as fishmeal and meat meal in quality,
though as a class they are not as good. Certainly the oilseed proteins are of poorer quality than the
better animal proteins such as those of milk and eggs.
The figures for protein efficiency ratio and gross protein value confirm the good quality of the
oilseed proteins, but their chemical scores are low. This means that they have a poorly balanced
amino acid constitution, having a large deficit of at least one essential amino acid. In general, oilseed
proteins have a low cystine and methionine content and a variable but usually low lysine content. As a
result, they cannot provide adequate supplementation of the cereal proteins with which they are
commonly combined, and they are often used in conjunction with an animal protein when given to
simple-stomached animals.

Table 1 Nutritive value of some food proteins

 Owing to EU legislation prohibiting the use in ruminant diets of animal-derived protein sources,
which are generally high in undegradable protein, sources of ruminally protected vegetable protein
sources have been developed. These sources have a reduced rumen-degradable protein content and
subsequently increased undegradable protein content when compared with unprotected sources. They
are most useful when fed to higher-producing animals such as high-yielding dairy cows, lactating
ewes, and young growing animals that have a higher digestible undegradable protein requirement.
Several methods to reduce the rate and extent of ruminal degradation of feed proteins have been
developed, including heat treatment and the use of chem-ical agents such as formaldehyde or
lignosulphate, a by-product of the wood pulp industry that contains a variety of sugars, particularly
xylose.
Heat processing decreases protein degradation in the rumen by denaturing proteins and the
formation of protein–carbohydrate cross-links (Maillard reactions) and protein–protein cross-links.
Underheating results in little effect on ruminal degradability, whereas overheating reduces intestinal
digestibility and a significant loss of lysine.

Soya bean meal

Soya beans contain 160–210 g/kg of oil and are normally solvent-extracted; the residual meal has an
oil content of about 10 g/kg. Also, soya beans contains around 360 g/kg of Crude Protein but after oil
extraction the resulted meal contain 420-480 g/kg of CP. The meal is generally regarded as one of the
best sources of protein available to animals, and is the major protein source used in animal feeding in
the world. The protein contains all the essential amino acids, but the concentrations of cystine and
methionine are suboptimal. Methionine is the first limiting aminoacid and may be particularly important
in high-energy diets.
Soya bean meal contains a number of toxic, stimulatory and inhibitory substances including
allergenic, goitrogenic and anticoagulant factors. Of particular importance in nutrition are the protease
inhibitors, of which six have been identified. The protease inhibitors are partly responsible for the
growth-retarding property of raw soya beans and unheated soya bean meal. The retardation has been
attributed to inhibition of protein digestion. Another substance contributing to the growth retardation is
a haemagglutenin, which is capable of agglutinating red blood cells in rats, rabbits and human beings
but not in sheep and calves. About half the growth-retarding effect of soya bean meal in monogastric
animals has been attributed to the lectin content. The inhibitors are inactivated by heating, which
accounts for the preference shown for toasted meals for simple-stomached animals. For ruminant
animals, the inhibitors are not important and toasting is unnecessary. The process of toasting must be
carefully controlled since overheating will reduce the availability of lysine and arginine and reduce the
value of the protein.
Provided the meal has been properly prepared (has less than a specified maximum urease activity
of 0.4 mg N/g per minute), it forms a very valuable food for farm animals. However, if soya bean meal
is used as the major protein food for simple-stomached animals, certain problems arise. The meal is a
poor source of B vitamins, and these must be provided either as a supplement or in the form of an
animal protein such as fishmeal. If such supplementation is not practised, sows may produce weak
litters that grow slowly because of reduced milk yields; older pigs show lack of coordination and failure
to walk. On such diets, breeding hens produce eggs of poor hatchability, giving chicks of poor quality;
such chicks may have an increased susceptibility to haemorrhages owing to a shortage of vitamin K.
Soya bean meal is a better source of calcium and phosphorus than the cereal grains, but when it
replaces animal protein foods, adjustments must be made in the diet, particularly for rapidly growing
animals and laying hens. As long as adequate supplementation is practised, it may form up to 400 kg/t
of poultry diets and 250 kg/t of pig diets.
The oil in the soya bean has a laxative effect and may cause soft body fat to be produced. The
extracted meal does not contain sufficient oil to cause this problem, but it should be borne in mind in
view of the increasing tendency to use full-fat soya bean products in dietary formulations, especially
for pigs.
The Full-fat soya products are produced by batch pressure cooking or extrusion of the whole bean.
The extruded product has a higher metabolisable energy content, but this advantage is nullified if the
products are ground and pelleted.
Soya protein concentrates are produced by solvent extraction and removal of insoluble
carbohydrate. Protein concentration is of the order of 70 per cent. During processing, antigenic and
antinutritional substances are removed and the materials are suitable for inclusion in calf milk
replacers and baby pig diets.

Cotton seed meal

The protein of cotton seed meal is of good quality but has the common disadvantage of oilseed
proteins of having a low content of cystine, methionine and lysine, lysine being the first limiting amino
acid.
Cotton seeds may contain from 0.3 g/kg to 20 g/kg DM of a yellow pigment known as gossypol, and
concentrations of 4–17 g/kg DM have been quoted for the kernels. Gossypol is a polyphenolic
aldehyde (alkanal), which is toxic to simple-stomached animals. The general symptoms of gossypol
toxicity are depressed appetite, loss of weight, laboured breathing and cardiac irregularity, untill Death.
It is generally considered that pig and poultry diets should not contain more than 100 mg free
gossypol/kg and that inclusions of cotton seed meal should be in the range 50–100 kg/t. Particular
care is required with laying hens, since relatively low levels of the meal may cause an olive-green
discoloration of the yolk in storage.
When cotton seed meal is used as a protein source for young, pregnant or nursing pigs, or young or
laying poultry, it needs to be supplemented with fishmeal to make good a shortage of essential amino
acids and calcium. A supplement of vitamins A and D should also be provided. Pigs and poultry do not
readily accept the meal, mainly because of its dry, dusty nature. No such difficulty is encountered with
lactating cows, although complications may arise when large amounts are given, since the milk fat
tends to become hard and firm. Butter made from such fat is often difficult to churn and tends to
develop tallowy taints. Another factor to be considered when using cotton seed meal is its costive
action. This is not normally a problem and may indeed be beneficial in diets containing large amounts
of laxative constituents.

Rapeseed meal
The 2010 world production of rapeseed was estimated at about 50 million tonnes.
Extraction of the oil by a prepress solvent extraction procedure leaves a residue containing about
400 g protein/kg DM. It contains more fibre (140 g/kg DM) than soya bean meal; its metabolisable
energy value is lower, about 7.4 MJ/kg DM for poultry and 12.0 MJ/kg DM for ruminants, and it has a
digestible en-ergy content of 11.8 and 12.3 for pigs and horses, respectively. Both protein content and
digestibility are lower than for soya bean meal, but the balance of essential amino acids compares
favourably, the rapeseed meal having less lysine but more me-thionine. The balance of calcium and
phosphorus is satisfactory and it contains a higher phosphorus content than other oilseed residues.
In the past, the use of rapeseed meals produced from rape (Brassica napus) grown in Europe was
restricted, particularly for pigs and poultry, by the presence of glucosinolates (thioglucosides)
accompanied by a thioglucosidase known as myrosinase. Under a variety of conditions, these may
give rise to isothiocyanates, organic thiocyanates, nitriles and 5-vinyloxazolidine-2-thione
(goitrin).They exhibit a variety of toxic effects manifested as goitres, and liver and kidney poisoning.
Their presence is not serious for ruminant animals, although there is some evidence of reduced intake,
minor liver damage and reduced volatile fatty acid production when the toxins have been administered
orally. With pigs, meals with high glucosinolate levels may reduce food intake, growth and carcass
quality. Piglets have shown poor survival rates and enlarged thyroids when maternal diets included
high levels of glucosinolates.
 Rapeseeds contain erucic acid, which has been known to cause heart lesions in experimental
animals, but it is unlikely to be a problem for farm animals since it partitions with the oil during
extraction.
Glucosinolates are no longer a problem when rapeseed meals are consumed as the meals are now
produced from varieties that have greatly reduced contents of glucosinolates and erucic acid (often
referred to as ‘double-zero varieties’). The potential for using low-glucosinolate meals in pig and
poultry diets is considerable, but account must be taken of the need for amino acid supplementation,
especially with lysine, when high levels of inclusion are practised. It must be borne in mind that
antinutritional factors are still present, even if at reduced levels, in the low-glucosinolate meals. This is
of particular importance with the early-weaned pig, where reduction in intake may be significant, and
with breeding animals, owing to the possible effects on the foetus. Rapeseed meal is often referred to
in North America as Canola (a trademarked brand name). This was a variety of rapeseed developed in
the early 1970s by Canadian plant breeders to remove the antinutritional components (erucic acid and
glucosinolates) from rapeseed.
Rapeseed meals frequently contain tannins. These are polyphenolic compounds that complex with
proteins and carbohydrates to form enzyme-resistant substrates with a consequent lowering of
digestibility.
The dietary inclusions of rapeseed meals require caution. Some authorities, consider that rapeseed
meals should not be used in starter or sow diets, and that levels in grower and finisher diets should not
exceed 50 kg/t and 100 kg/t, respectively.
Chick growth may be adversely affected if inclusion rates exceed 50 kg/t. The eggs of some hens
producing brown-shelled eggs are susceptible to the development of fishy taints when rapeseed meals
are included in the diet. This is because of the inability of these birds to oxidise trimethylamine
produced from the polyphenolic choline ester sinapine.
For ruminant animals, rapeseed meal may be used as the sole source of dietary protein.

Best estimates of permissible levels of inclusion of rapeseed meal in pig diets (kg/t)

Sunflower seed meal

The meal is produced when the oil is removed from the seed by hydraulic pressure or solvent
extraction.The hulls are usually partially rather than completely removed, but the resulting high-fibre
meals (up to 420 g NDF/kg DM) are readily accepted by older animals, provided they are finely
ground. Removing the hulls from the meal produces a more digestible product with a higher crude
protein content and is often referred to as HiPro sunflower meal.
Solvent-extracted meals contain, on average, about 220 g crude fibre and 430 g crude protein per
kilogram of dry matter and have metabolisable energy contents of 8.1 MJ/kg DM, 10.4 MJ/kg DM and
11.2 MJ/kg DM for poultry, cattle and sheep, respectively. For pigs and horses, a digestible energy
content of 10.6 MJ/kg DM and 10.1 MJ/kg DM respectively would be appropriate. Expeller meals have
higher fat, lower crude fibre and crude protein contents and metabolisable energy values of about 13
MJ/kg DM for cattle. Sunflower oil has a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids and may cause
soft body fat in pigs, particularly when expeller meals are given. The oil is very susceptible to
oxidation, and the meals have a short shelf life owing to the development of rancidity, which renders
them unpalatable. The meals are useful sources of protein, which is low in lysine, the main limiting
amino acid, but has about twice as much methionine as soya protein.
Maximum rates of inclusion in diets are 200 kg/t for adult cattle, 150 kg/t for adult sheep, 25 kg/t for
growing pigs, 50 kg/t for finishing pigs and 100 kg/t for sows. They are not recommended for calves,
lambs or young pigs. For adult poultry, sun-flower meals may be included at 100 kg/t of the diet, but
they are not recommended for young birds.

Other: Groundnuts meal, Cotton seed meal, Lindseed meal, Sesame seed meal …

2. LEGUMINOUS SEEDS

The Leguminosae are a large family of plants, with about 12 000 recognised species.
Many leguminous plants are toxic to animals. Vicia faba (broad bean) may cause the condition in
man known as favism. This is characterised by haemolytic anaemia, and affected individuals have
nausea, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, fevers and sometimes renal failure. It has been
suggested that the causative agents are divicine and isouramil, pyrimidine derivatives present in the
seed.
Phaseolus lunatus beans (lima bean, Java bean) contain the cyanogenetic glucoside
phaseolunatin, which is extremely toxic when hydrolysed. The glucoside is present, but only in small
quantities, in cultivated varieties of P. lunatus such as the butter bean. A number of species, including
Cicer ensiformis, Dolichus biflorus, D. lablab, P. lunatus, P. vulgaris and P. communis, are known to
contain lectins, which are toxic upon oral ingestion.

Beans
Beans belong mainly to the Vicieae and Phaseoleae and are used as food for human beings and
animals all over the world.The chief member of the Vicieae is Vicia faba, known as the broad bean,
horse bean, tick bean and field bean.The most numerous genus in the Phaseoleae is Phaseolus, and
the best-known species is P. vulgaris, with a number of varieties known as French, dwarf and navy
beans. There are a large number of other Phaseolus species that are locally important as sources of
food, such as butter beans (P. lunatus) and runner beans (P. coccineus). Nutritionally, the species are
very similar, being good sources of protein with a high lysine content; they are good sources of energy
and phosphorus but have low contents of calcium. Beans have little or no carotene or vitamin C, but
they may contain significant amounts of thiamin, nicotinamide and riboflavin.
Beans are regarded primarily as sources of protein (about 250 g/kg DM) of relatively good quality
and a lower fibre content, about 70 g/kg DM . This is a reflection of the amino acid composition
characterised by a high lysine content similar to that of fishmeal protein; levels of cystine and
methionine are lower than in common animal and vegetable proteins.
As well as being a good source of protein, beans make a significant contribution to the energy
economy of the animal, having a metabolisable energy content of 13.5 MJ/kg DM for ruminants and 12
MJ/kg DM for poultry and a digestible energy content of 13 MJ/kg DM for pigs.
Beans are used in the diets of all the major classes of farm animal. Levels in the diets of calves up
to 3 months of age are usually of the order of 150 kg/t but can be increased considerably thereafter.
Mixtures containing 400 kg/t have been used quite satisfactorily for intensively fed steers. Dairy cow
concentrates may contain 150–250 kg/t of beans.
For pigs, beans are usually ground to pass a 3 mm screen and are used in sow, weaner and
fattening diets; it is not usual to include them in creep feeds. Although there is no objective evidence in
its support, the view is widely held that newly harvested beans should be allowed to mature for several
weeks before being given to pigs. The usual rate of inclusion of beans is 50–150 kg/t and should not
exceed 200 kg/t.
Many species of beans, including the field bean, have been shown to contain antitryptic factors.

Peas
The peas grown as a source of protein for animals in the UK (Pisum sativum) belong to the
Vicieae.Other species,such as the chick pea (Cicer arietinum) in India, are im-portant locally. Peas are
basically similar to beans but have lower contents of crude protein (230 g/kg DM) and crude fibre (<60
g/kg DM). Like beans, peas are regarded primarily as a source of protein. That of peas has the better
balance of amino acids, having higher contents of lysine, methionine and cystine. However,
methionine is still the main limiting amino acid. Peas make a significant contribution to the energy
intake of the animal, having a metabolisable energy content of 13.4 MJ/kg DM for ruminants and 12.7
MJ/kg DM for poultry, and a digestible energy content of 15.0 MJ/kg DM for pigs.
 The maximum rate of inclusion of peas in ruminant diets may be as high as 400 kg/t, but problems
of mixing and cubing limit their inclusion in pelleted foods to a maximum of 200 kg/t. They are
particularly useful in that they are able to replace soya bean meal in pig and poultry diets, whereas
beans are largely confined to ruminant diets.

Lupin seed meal

Lupin seed meal is made by grinding the whole seeds. It is a useful European-grown source of
protein. There are three species of lupin, distinguished by the colour of the flowers. Those of
Lupinus albus are white, those of L. angustifolius blue and those of L. luteus yellow. Within species,
there are sweet and bitter varieties. The latter contain 10–20 g/kg of toxic alkaloids such as lupinin and
angustifolin and should not be given to animals; even sweet varieties may contain low levels of
alkaloids. For safety, the alkaloid content must be less than 0.6 g/kg.
The seed coat is fibrous, and its inclusion in the meal adversely affects its digestibility, especially for
young monogastric animals. White varieties have the lowest fibre and highest oil and protein contents,
and meals made from them are more valuable for pigs and poultry than are the blue and yellow
varieties. A typical meal will have a metabolisable energy content of 11.5 MJ/kg DM for poultry and
13.2 MJ/kg DM for ruminants,and a digestible energy content for pigs of 17.3 MJ/kg DM. The amino
acid pattern is not well balanced, and diets containing significant quantities of the meal may require
supplementation with methionine, which is the first limiting amino acid.
Maximum levels of inclusion are 150 kg/t for ruminant diets, 100 kg/t for adult poultry and
pigs, and 50 kg/t for growing pigs and broilers. Because of rapid oxidation of the oil, the meal
has to be used immediately or an antioxidant must be incorporated.