Chemical characterization of selected Western Canadian Spring and durum wheat cultivars using the Cornell net carbohydrate and protein analysis

Abstract

This study determined the chemical composition of new Canada Prairie Spring (CPS, n = 5) and durum (n =5) wheat cultivars, relative to a common Canada Western Red Spring (Katepwa) and durum (Kyle) wheat, which were used to predict the total digestible nutrient of these cultivars in cattle. The results showed that test weight differed among the spring wheat cultivars (74.9 to 79.9kg hlitre -1 ) and was similar among the durum cultivars (average 79.7kg hlitre -1 ). Relative to Katepwa, Genesis had higher (P<0.05) neutral detergent fibre and starch and lower (P<0.05) crude protein levels. Differences among the other CPS cultivars were small. Chemical composition was uniform among the durum cultivars except for neutral detergent fibre which was higher (P<0.05) in Sceptre and AC Morse than Kyle. Carbohydrate fractionation showed that intermediately degradable carbohydrate is the main component of dry matter in CPS (664. 7 g kg -1 ) and durum (656.0 g kg -1 ) wheat. In both types of wheat, true protein was the main protein fraction followed by non-protein nitrogen and unavailable protein, respectively. Total digestible nutrient was similar among the CPS and the durum cultivars. It was concluded that while some differences in chemical composition were observed between CPS cultivars, there was little or no variation among durum cultivars.