Protein quality of some Nigerian feedstuffs. I. Chemical assay of nutrients and amino acid composition

The nutrient and amino acid composition of a range of Nigerian feedstuffs were studied by chemical analysis and column chromatography for amino acids. Nearly all feedstuffs studied showed low crude fibre value except the palm kernel meal and the African locust bean seeds which gave high values, range 8.1 to 12.3% and 8.76 to 12.64%, respectively. All the animal protein concentrates studied, namely, skim milk powder, blood meal and fish meal showed desirable feedstuff characteristics such as a low crude fibre content, high crude protein content and fairly high gross energy values, lysine, methionine and tryptophan were the amino acids in shortest supply in most of the feedstuffs.