Animal feed is the second largest consuming industry of cereals across the globe; their use is due primarily to the high starch concentration of these ingredients, which will usually account for more than 60 percent of the energy of the final feed. The three cereals most routinely used in animal nutrition are maize, wheat and sorghum. While the use of wheat and sorghum is specific to geographical regions (wheat being used in Europe, Canada and Australia and sorghum in Mexico, Australia and Central West Brazil), maize is used more globally.

1. Digital Re-print - March | April 2012
Assessing cereal quality parameters
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2. FEATURE FEATURE
factors that may affect digestibility, like protein Fewer sorghum samples were collected One of the most detrimental procedures
solubility index, vitreousness and viscosity but nevertheless it was possible to observe is drying, where moisture content is reduced
ASSESSING CEREAL QUALITY parameters can also be analysed by their own
specific methods.
regional effects between samples harvested in
Australia, Mexico and South America.
in order to prevent germination and spoilage
during storage. Maize harvested at a high
PARAMETERS
The high volume of use of these ingre- It is known that cereals vary considerably moisture level needs more rigorous drying,
dients and the cost of each specific analysis in composition with environment, growth which will change the characteristic of the
may be a limitation of controlling the qual- region, agronomic inputs and variety. Starch grain and the availability of nutrients.
ity of these cereals, as to do so it would be can vary from around 550g/kg to 750g/kg in
necessary to have a constant evaluation of the cereals. Heat treatment
quality of these ingredients, remembering that A study in the USA in 1999 showed crude The Protein Solubility Index (PSI) is an
they compose on average 60-65 percent of protein (CP) in maize across 16 states varied indicator of the severity of heat treatment
the feed provided to animals. between 73.1 and 90.6g/kg and a separate on the maize sample and has a high correla-
One alternative for this challenge is to study of 23 UK wheat samples showed vari- tion with the starch extraction in bioethanol
evaluate these parameters through NIR analy- ability between 85 and 151g/kg. production. Research has already shown a
sis; if well adjusted with wet chemistry analysis Environment is most likely to be the cause good relationship between PSI and animal
and constantly updated, NIR can give a reli- of variation in chemical composition; elevated performance of birds fed maize with similar
able, accurate and fast analysis. temperatures during grain filling may decrease proximate analysis, showing that nutrient con-
At the same time, the lower cost of NIR starch content and increase protein. tent alone cannot explain the nutritive value
compared to the analysis of all proximate Within the starch, amylose to amylopectin of the maize.
and physiochemical parameters allows the ratio may also be affected; across 15 countries, However, other researchers have shown
nutritionist to expand the volume of samples, total starch in wheat varied between 65 and that broilers fed maize with similar proximate
also giving a more accurate picture of the real 70 percent and the amylopectin content of analysis and PSI still differed in performance,
quality of these ingredients. that starch varied between 73 and 83 percent. suggesting that other factors also play a role
In broilers, ileal starch digestibility can be in defining maize quality.
Proximate analysis upwards of 90 percent Starch content (and Higher drying temperature increases starch
The region of production affects the proxi- protein, which is correlated to starch) are granule size and rigidity, reduces starch viscos-
mate analysis of maize (see Table 1) and sor- clearly important and because anti-nutritional ity and increases the temperature necessary
ghum (see Table 2). factors such as NSP detract from the overall for subsequent gelatinisation, but is depend-
Obviously, within these large regions the quality of the cereal, it is important to have ent on moisture content.
quality of cereal may also change. accurate knowledge of the proximate com- Interestingly, the hydration capacity of the
In addition to the region, the time of position. grain is negatively correlated with the AME of
by Tiago Tedeschi dos Santos and Helen Masey O’Neill, AB Vista, UK the year of the harvest (summer or winter) After harvest, cereal handling may vary wheat and triticale for broilers but positively
also influences the nutritional value of maize. considerably before being fed to animals. correlated with that of sorghum.
A
nimal feed is the second largest Nutrient contribution of the diet nutrients, that is, starch, protein and fat, than a
consuming industry of cereals Cereals such as wheat, maize and sorghum similar ingredient with a low AME.
across the globe; their use is due are high starch, low protein ingredients that Thus, it is not surprising that most of the
primarily to the high starch concentra- makes them important energy sources for equations for energy determination of ingredi-
tion of these ingredients, which will animals. ents or diets for broilers and swine are based
usually account for more than 60 percent Considering the poor quality of the pro- on values of nutrient concentration (starch,
of the energy of the final feed. tein due to the low concentration of essential protein, fat), multiplied by their respective
amino acids (mainly lysine), the influence of digestibility coefficients (which are determined
The three cereals most routinely used these ingredients on dietary amino acid con- as an average for the ingredient). These equa-
in animal nutrition are maize, wheat and centration is not great. tions work well when comparing different
sorghum. Considering an average 65 percent inclu- ingredients (for example, wheat versus maize)
While the use of wheat and sorghum is sion in the diet and a diet formulation with that have different nutrient composition and
specific to geographical regions (wheat being 3150kcal/kg, 1.00 percent digestible lysine nutrient digestibility.
used in Europe, Canada and Australia and (dLys) and 0.75 percent digestible sulphur However, such equations are less accurate
sorghum in Mexico, Australia and Central amino acids (dSAA), the main cereal will when applied to individual ingredients as, in
West Brazil), maize is used more globally. contribute approximately 65-70 percent of most cases, nutrient content varies less than
The increase in use of maize by the bio- the energy, 10 to 15 percent of dLys and 25 digestibility between samples. In the case of
fuel industry has increased its cost, which to 30 percent dSAA. wheat, although AME and starch digestibility
has resulted in the more commonplace use This clearly shows their importance as an are reported to be correlated, this does not
of alternate cereals. The quality of cereals energy contributing ingredient and highlights account for all the variation found between
is of greatest concern to the nutritionist the importance of having an accurate meas- different varieties, as a result of different grow-
due to their high inclusion rates in animal urement of energy content. ing environment and year of production to
feeds. Ingredient energy content is usually meas- name a few variables of interest.
One of the most important determinants ured using an Apparent Metabolisable Energy The ability to identify all parameters
of cereal quality is their content of non- (AME) chick bioassay. In this bioassay, ingre- involved in determining the nutritive value of
starch (fibre) polysaccharides (NSP), the dients are fed to animals and the amount of a cereal is an ultimate goal of any nutritionist
concentration and functionality of which energy absorbed is calculated as the difference as this will enable more accurate formula-
varies from sample to sample. They are between the gross energy of the feed and the tions and, as a result, more consistent animal
countered with the use of dietary exogenous energy of the excreta (poultry) or faeces plus performance.
NSP-degrading enzymes, and evidently the urine (swine); gross energy is measured using Quality of cereals could be summarised
response obtained depends very much upon bomb calorimetry. as the concentration of nutrients and physi-
initial cereal quality. cochemical factors that may affect the digest-
Understanding those factors that affect Higher digestibility ibility of these nutrients.
cereal quality will aid in ensuring more con- It is clear that an ingredient with a high Nutrient concentration can be analysed
sistent animal performance. AME will have higher digestibility of the major by proximate analysis while physiochemical
10 | march - april 2012 Grain &feed millinG technoloGy Grain &feed millinG technoloGy march - april 2012 | 11

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4. FEATURE
In the case of sorghum, this is likely due Southeast samples had higher PSI while Northern So, similarly to PSI, the value of a vitreous- Look for
to increased drying temperature changing the
structure of the starch such that it hydrates
samples, known to be harvested in a more humid
environment, have a lower PSI value, closer to
ness measure may be in contributing to a
more complex equation. the NIR solution INFRANeO
more slowly which would clearly reduce AME. values found with Canadian samples. Sorghum samples also show a correlation that best matches your needs
With wheat and triticale this effect of For sorghum samples, on the other hand, between vitreousness and protein content. In
drying temperature on starch is overwhelmed the harvest is usually conducted during a sorghum, high protein content is related with
by that on NSP. In this case higher drying much drier period and as a result drying is a higher quantity of kafirin, which is a prolamin y NIRT Analyser on whole grain and powdery products
temperatures disrupt the NSP structure, mak- usually not necessary, and consequently the storage protein in sorghum as zein is in maize. y Measure chemical composition as soon as you
ing it more soluble (i.e. more rapidly hydrated) differences between Brazilian and Mexican When there is a high temperature drought,
receive your raw materials.
and viscous, which clearly negatively influences samples are low. kafirin may be further cross-linked with disul-
y Estimate technical values of flours, semolinas, grits, glutens, starches (and other
AME. The effect of drying temperature on Vitreousness (hardness) is a measure of phide bridges, further decreasing its solubility
powders products).
starch structure is indicated by decreased PSI. the amount of vitreous endosperm present in and affecting starch solubility.
y Moisture, protein, ash content, zeleny, hydration*.
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wheat
The three cereals most routinely
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Starch and protein within the kernel are the kernel and is related to evolution of the This process occurs to a greater extent in
closely associated but their relationship is grain to protect against digestion and weather. kafirn than with zein, which suggests that drying
affected by heat treatment. Maize that has USA/Canadian maize tends to have lower vit- and pelleting temperatures may be of greater
been dried at high temperatures due to reousness than South American (see Table 3). significance with sorghum than with maize.
weather conditions at harvest has a decreased Prolamin proteins, such as zeins, tend to
protein solubility, which appears to be linearly be more concentrated in vitreous maize, Conclusion
related to the initial moisture content and which is confirmed in our data that shows a Even examples of wheat where overall
drying temperature employed. high correlation between protein content and quality is low (as measured by AME), the
The PSI value is calculated by determining vitreousness. Furthermore there is a positive starch, when extracted and fed to an animal,
solubility of protein in an alkali solution, as relationship between NSPs and vitreousness is extremely well digested.
a percentage of an albumin standard. It has in maize (data not shown). So it is likely that a combination of factors
been shown that this value alone can indicate There is little information in the literature and the interactions between components
decreased nutritional value for an animal. relating maize vitreousness (as an isolated contribute to nutritional value for the animal,
However, it also may provide a useful correc- value) to bird performance. not simply the starch itself.
tion factor within a multi-factorial prediction However, it seems that when a large range This further suggests that a combination
equation for nutritional value. of wheat hardness scores are investigated, a of factors is necessary to predict quality of
positive correlation is found between starch cereals. As these factors change depending
Regional effect on PSI digestibility and hardness. On the other hand, on harvest time or sample origin, constant
From our own internal data for maize authors investigating a small range of scores monitoring of cereal quality, as made possible
(see Table 3) and sorghum (see Table 4), it in the middle of the scale failed to find any by NIR analysis, is advisable,
is possible to see that there is also a regional relationship between hardness and starch A recent animal study in China comparing
effect on PSI, but as the regions differ in their digestibility. five different maize samples confirmed that no
post-harvest treatment, it is not clear whether Authors comparing six maize variants that one value can predict performance.
it is regions per se having such an effect on appeared to be quite similar in hardness char- Thus, knowledge of the composition and
this parameter in the same way that it seems acteristics did report significant broiler per- factors affecting digestibility of the grain is cru-
to on vitreousness. formance differences between the samples. cial for predicting quality and also for making
It is interesting to see that the season However, the differences were small and informed decisions on whether this prediction
when the maize is harvested also influences only seen between weeks 0-2 and 4-6 of the should be used in feed formulation.
the PSI result, which is likely related to the bird experiment. When two maize samples Dietary xylanase, when used in maize-
moisture content at harvest and subsequent similar in composition but differing in hardness based poultry diets, is well-known to reduce
drying. and kernel size were compared, they were performance variation both within and
In confirmation of this observation, when found not to be different in broiler perform- between flocks; xylanase is more efficacious
separating US maize by region (North and ance response (feed efficiency) between day in improving nutrient digestibility in diets with
Southeast - data not shown), it is possible to see 0 and 42 in two separate studies. low quality cereals.
12 | march - april 2012 Grain &feed millinG technoloGy Grain &feed millinG technoloGy march - april 2012 | 13

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