Cereals
Cereals are main source of energy (form of starch) and phytogenic crude protein in animal nutrition, mainly pigs and poultry. Generally are sorted to carbohydrate feedstuffs. Content of crude protein is around 10 %. Content of fibre is low, except in oat where is increasing caused by present of paleas. Oat and maize have high content of fat too. Cereals contain enough B and E vitamins. Limiting aminoacids are lysine, threonine and tryptophan in maize.
Seeds of cereals belong to feeds which are poor for minerals. Extra low is content of calcium. Phosphorus is fixed in phytic acid. Animals have no phytase enzyme which is necessary for its releasing from this bond. Phosphorus come into soil by exkrements and there is released by soil microorganisms. It could lead to its drift out to water and subsequently to ecological problems in water reservoirs associated with eutrophication.
Nutritional value of cereals is different. Some are impressed with non-starch polysacharides (NSP). This group of structural polysacharides is part of fibre complex. Fraction of NSP is water soluble. NSP are digestible partially only or indigestible.
Cereals are fed without any additional treatment (for poultry), but mostly are scraped. Sometimes is used squeezing or different technique of hydrotermic processing. Racio of cereals is usually from 30 to 70 % in feed mixtures.
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