Laboratorio Analisi Zootecniche | Zootechnical Food Statistics
We have divided this survey into 5 sections based on the analytical profile:
- NIR Standard Nutritional Profile
- CNCPS NIR Nutritional Profile
- XRF Mineral Profile
- Nitrates
- Mycotoxin profile
- Technical appendix
1. The “NIR Standard Profile” is the result of NIR (Near InfraRed Spectroscopy) processing using calibration curves developed by the Zootechnical Analysis Laboratory, with the following specifications:
- the global statistics of grass hays showed, for many parameters, standard deviation values that were too high and therefore not very useful: the subdivision into 6 subgroups based on the protein content was added;
- for each silage, two statistics have been created based on dry matter to distinguish pre-wilted from non-wilted. Sorghum silage is also subdivided according to the starch content;
- corn silage is present as the only statistic but also in three subgroups based on the humidity content.
2. The “CNCPS NIR Profile” uses the reworkings of the Dairyland Laboratory (USA) of samples analyzed by us of Italian origin: there are the Digestibility of NDF, the energy calculations and other dynamic parameters necessary for rationing with the CNCPS system (Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System). There are also statistics of silage produced in Germany and analyzed by us.
Some foods have been divided according to specific selectors such as DCAD (Dietary Cation-Anion Difference or Balancing Anions Cations); in the Dry Unifeeds we have added statistics based on the Chlorine content, to try to highlight those with anion-based correction.
Each of the previous sections also contains the Summary of statistics by type of food.
The “Nitrates” statistic shows the percentage distribution of nitrate in foods by concentration levels (contamination); the overall nitrate content in all the foods analyzed (hays and silages) was also included as a trend over the last 5 years.
The Mycotoxin Profile also shows the presence of the four main toxins analyzed on the basis of concentration levels in the food.
The last document is a brief discussion of the main analytical problems encountered; it points out the methods adopted in our NIR calibrations and the differences compared to other commonly used methods.
