Qualitative and Quantitative Scores of Amino Acid Content of Feedstuffs Sampled at Different Locations in Nigeria

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the quantitative and qualitative acids profiles, scores of amino acids (AA) content of dry brewers spent grain (DBSG), cassava meal (CAM), palm kernel cake (PKC) and groundnut cake (GNC) sampled at different locations in northern and southern Nigeria. The samples were analysed for their essential and non essential AA content at Evonik Industry Laboratory, Germany. Qualitativeand quantitative scores of the AA were calculated and presented in tables and percentages. The quantitative scores showed that on mean Total amino acids (Taa) bases, PKC contained 47.92% essential amino acids, while GNC contained 43.24%, DBSG 42.21% and CAM 41.19%.Percentage essential AA without Histidine + Arginine were 35.25, 34.65 and 28.50% for DBSG, CAM, PKC and GNC respectively. Qualitatively, GNC was rich in all the essential AAs with exception of methionine, while DBSG was rich in four essential AAs (leucine, valine, phenylalanine and arginine), and PKC was rich in arginine and moderate in isoleucine, leucine, valine and phenylalanine. CAM was poor in all essential and non essential AAs contents. It was concluded that Nigerian GNC based diets should be supplemented with synthetic methionine, while DBSG based diets should be supplemented with lysine, methionine and to some extent threonine for them to drive optimal performance in monogastric animals.