The establishment of a database of Italian feeds for the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System

Abstract

A field application of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) in Italy has been limited because the feed bank is based on North American feedstuffs and still few laboratories are able to analyze feeds as requested by the CNCPS. Moreover, the standardization of analytical procedures is still not homogeneous among laboratories. This work was carried out to establish a first database for feeds commonly used in Italy, providing nutritionists and producers an accurate and current feed composition, also indicating methods and apparatus for analytical procedures potentially available for routine analysis. A total of 909 samples of hays, silages and raw materials (protein feeds, cereals and by-products) were analyzed through 1999 and 2002; analysis included protein solubility and degradability, protein fractions, structural carbohydrate fractions and the calculation of neutral detergent structural carbohydrates. When possible, average data were compared with those included in the feed bank of CNCPS ver. 3 and with those obtained by another Italian laboratory. The main differences were observed in chemical composition of forages and silages, whose composition largely depends on environmental conditions and physiological stage; protein feeds, cereals and by-products showed some differences in crude protein, soluble protein and protein fractions even in feeds of national origin.The intent to modify the feed bank values of CNCPS for establishing an Italian data base of feeds will require a collaborative study of many laboratories not only for forages, hays and silages samples - whose composition is greatly dependent on environmental factors and agronomic techniques - but also for protein fractions, whose values are largely influenced by even small changes in analytical techniques.