Classes of Nutrients and their Composition

Lecture Note
Nutrients are substances required by the body to perform its basic functions. Nutrients must be
obtained from our diet since the human body cannot make them. Nutrients have one or more of
three basic functions: they provide energy, contribute to body structure, and/or regulate
chemical processes in the body.

There are six classes of nutrients required for the body to function and maintain overall health.
These are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals.

A. WATER
• Cheapest and most abundant nutrient
• Makes up to 65-85% of animal body weight at birth and 45-60% of body
weight at maturity.
• Percentage of body water decreases with animal age and has an inverse
relationship with body fat.
• Accounts for 90-95% of blood and many tissues contain 70-90%
water.

❖ Functions:
- transport of nutrients and excretion
- chemical reactions and solvent properties
- maintain shape of body cells
- body temperature regulation
- lubricates and cushion joints and organs in the body cavity

❖ Found in the animal body as:

✓ Intracellular water - mainly muscles and skin
✓ Extracellular water - mainly interstitial fluids, blood plasma, lymph, synovial
and cerebrospinal fluids.
✓ Water present in urinary and gastrointestinal tract.

❖ Water Losses from the Animal Body

➢ Urine
➢ Feces
➢ Vaporization from lungs
➢ Sweat from the sweat glands

❖ Sources of Water in Animal Science

• Drinking water – consumption affected by many factors
• Water contained in the feed – about 8% to 30% water
• Metabolic water – may account for 5-10% of the total water intake

❖ Deficiencies :
➢ reduced feed intake and reduced palatability
➢ weight loss due to dehydration
➢ increased secretions of nitrogen and electrolytes such as Na and K
B. CARBOHYDRATES

✓ Made up of C (40%), H (7%) and O (53%) by % molecular weight

✓ Include sugar, starch, cellulose and gums
✓ Very little occurs as such in animal body
✓ CHO make up approximately ¾ of plant dry weight thus the largest part of animal’s
food supply
✓ Formed by photosynthesis in plants

❖ Functions:
- Provide a ready source of energy for the body and provide structural constituents for the
formation of cells.
- Includes sugar, starch, cellulose and gums
- Building stores for other nutrients
- Formed by plants by photosynthesis
- Stored in the animal body by converting fats

❖ Classification of Carbohydrates (based on number of sugar molecules)

• Monosaccharide
- the simplest carbohydrates
- general formula is (CH20)x and termed as simple sugar
- hexoses (glucose, fructose, galactose, mannose)
- pentoses (arabinose, xylose, ribose)

• Disaccharides
- any substances that is composed of molecules of simple sugar linked to
each other (two sugar molecule)
- sucrose, maltose, lactose, cellobiose
-
• Polysaccharides – made up of many sugar molecules
- starch – amylase, amylopectin, glycogen
- cellulose - glucose molecules in B-linkage
- mixed polysaccharides – hemicellulose, pectin
- lignin

❖ Structure
o Structure consists of C atoms arranged in chains to which H and O are
attached
o May contain an aldehyde or a ketone group in their structure

❖ Deficiencies

➢ Ketosis – catabolism of body fat

➢ Diabetes mellitus - does not control the amount of glucose in the bloods and
kidneys.
C. FATS (LIPIDS OR ETHER EXTRACT)
✓ Made up (molecular weight) of C (77%), H (12%) and O (11%)
✓ Insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents
✓ Fat will yield 2.25x more energy than carbohydrates or proteins

❖ Functions
- Provides stored energy for the body, functions as structural components of cells,
and signaling molecules for proper cellular communication. It provides insulation
to vital organs and works to maintain body temperature.

- Dietary supply
- Source of heat, insulation and protection for animal body
- Source of essential fatty acids – linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic acid
- Serve as a carrier for absorption of fat-soluble vitamins

❖ Classification of Lipids

A. Simple Lipids – lipids containing only fatty acids and glycerol or long chain alcohols.
• Fats – are esters of saturated or unsaturated fatty acids with glycerol
• Waxes - are esters of fatty acids with aliphatic or alicyclic higher
molecular weight monohydric alcohols.

B. Compound Lipids - contains certain groups in addition to alcohol and fatty acids.
➢ Phospholipids – contain phosphoric acid and N
➢ Glycolipids – esters of glycerol
- are lipids with a carbohydrate joined together by a
glycosidic bond.
➢ Lipoproteins – are lipids that are associated noncovalently with
specific proteins.
- are synthesized and released by the small intestines
and liver

C. Derived Lipids - are lipids that are formed from cholesterol or isoprene compounds.
➢ Steroids/ Sterols– are steroid alcohols (Phytosterols, Mycosterols,
Zoosterols)
➢ Fatty acids – important component of lipids
- are carboxylic acids with long aliphatic chains

❖ Structure of Fat
• Glycerol and fatty acids
• Saturated fatty acids
• Unsaturated fatty acids

❖ Deficiencies:
- skin lesions, hair loss and reduced growth rate
- ketosis – catabolism of body fat
- fatty liver – abnormal metabolism of liver
 D. PROTEINS

✓ Made up (by molecular weight) of C (53%) H (7%), O (23%), N (16%) and P (1%).
✓ Proteins are the principal constituents of the organ and soft structures of the
animalbody
✓ Dietary requirement (%) is highest in young growing animals and decline
gradually to maturity
✓ Proteins are basically large molecules

❖ Functions
- Basic structural unit of the animal body, i.e., collagen, elastin, contractile
protein, keratin protein, blood proteins.
- Necessary for tissue formation, cell reparation, hormone and enzyme
production
- Body metabolism – enzymes, hormones, immune antibodies, hereditary
transmission.
- It is essential for building strong muscles and a healthy immune system.

❖ Structure of Proteins
• All proteins have one common property, their basic structure is made up of a single
unit, amino acids
• Twenty-two amino acids are commonly found in proteins, they are linked together
by peptide bonds
• The arrangement of amino acids in the chain helps determine the composition of
the protein.
• The classification of amino acids depends on the number of acidic and basic group that
are present.

❖ Classification of Proteins

o Simple (globular) proteins – those yielding only amino acids or their

derivativesupon hydrolysis, i.e., albumins, histones, protomins, globulins,
glutelins, prolamins.

o Fibrous proteins – constitute about 30% of total protein in animal body,

connective tissue, i.e., collagens, elastin, keratins.

o Conjugated proteins – those in which simple proteins are combined with non-
protein radicals, .i.e., nucleoproteins, glycoproteins, phosphoproteins,
hemoproteins, lecitoproteins, lipoproteins, metalloproteins.

❖ Protein terminology
- True protein - composed of amino acids
- Non-protein nitrogen - NPN - compounds that are not true proteins in
nature but contain N and can be converted to protein by bacterial action, i.e.,
urea.
- Crude protein – composed of true protein and any nitrogenous products;
crudeprotein
= %N x 6.25
- Protein quality - refers to the amount and ratio of essential amino acids presentin
protein
AMINO ACIDS
➢ are building blocks of protein
➢ linked together in the protein molecule by peptide bonds to form the
protein polymer
➢ On acid or heat hydrolysis, protein will yield this amino acid monomer
➢ There are about 150 amino acids that occur in nature
➢ Only 20-22 are part of the protein molecule

Essential amino acids – those amino acids which are essential to the animal and must be
supplied in the diet because the animal cannot synthesize them
faster enough to meet its re quirement.
- 8 to 11 amino acids are considered essential to animals depending
upon the type and age of animal.

1. Phenylalanine
2. methionine
3. valine
4. histidine
5. threonine
6. arginine
7. tryptophan
8. leucine
9. isoleucine
10. lysine

• All ten amino acids listed are essential for growing pigs. (PVT MAT HILL)

Structural Formula of Essential Amino Acids

Non-essential amino acids – amino acids which are essential to the animal butare
normally synthesized or sufficient in the diet and need not
be supplemented.
1. alanine
2. glutamine
3. asparagine
4. glycine
5. aspartic acid
6. hydroxyproline
7. cysteine
8. cystine
9. praline
10. serine
11. glutamic acid
12. tyrosine

Structural Formula of Essential Amino Acids

❖ Deficiencies
- symptoms of protein deficiencies: reduced growth rate and feed
efficiency,anorexia, infertility.

❖ Amino acid deficiency – a lack of an important amino acid which results

todeamination
 E. MINERALS
✓ Inorganic solid, crystalline chemical elements
✓ The total mineral content of plants or animals is often called ash.
✓ Make up to 5% of animal body on dry weight basis

❖ Classification
❖ Major minerals – normally present at greater level in animal body or
needed inrelatively large amounts in the diet. Include Ca, P, Na, Cl, K,
Mg, S.
❖ Trace minerals – normally present at low levels in the animal body or
needed in very small amount in the diet. Include Cu, Zn, Co, F, I, Fe, Mn,
Se and are toxic atlarge quantities.

❖ General Functions
❖ Skeletal formation and maintenance – Ca, P, Mg, Cu, Mn
❖ Function in protein synthesis – P, S, Zn
❖ Oxygen transport – Fe, Cu
❖ Fluid balance (osmotic pressure) – Na, Cl, K
❖ Regulating acid-base balance of the entire system – Na, Cl, K
❖ Activators and/or component of enzyme systems – Ca, P, K, Mg, Fe, Cu,
Mn, Zn
❖ Mineral-vitamin relationship = Ca, P, Co, Se

F. Vitamins
✓ Organic components of natural food but distinct from
carbohydrates, fats, proteinand water
✓ Present in foods in minute amounts and effective in the animal body
in small amounts.
✓ Essential for development of normal tissue necessary for
metabolic activity but donot enter into structural portion of the
body.
✓ When absent from the diet or not properly absorbed or utilized,
results in a specific deficiency disease or syndrome
✓ Cannot be synthesized by the animal
❖ Related substances
- provitamins or precursors, i.e. carotene
- antivitamins, vitamin antagonists or pseudovitamins
❖ Classification and Structure
- Fat-soluble vitamins – ADEK
- Water-soluble vitamins - thiamine, riboflavin, niacin,
pyridoxine, pantothenmicacid, biotin, choline, folic acid

❖ Functions and Deficiencies

- Play role as regulators of metabolism; necessary for growth and
maintenance
- Vitamin requirement may also increase in old age due to difficulties in
absorption and utilization