Protein Metabolism in Farm Animals

Farm animals are mainly grown to provide high quality proteins for human use in the form of meat, milk or eggs, with skin or wool as important by-products. Animal proteins are usually formed from dietary proteins of lower quality. This up-grading is often accompanied by losses during the complex processes of digestion, absorption, transport through the blood and their formation into tissues. This book begins with a description of the dietary proteins and methods for their measurement. This is followed by detailed accounts of their digestion in ruminants, pigs, poultry and fish. The physiological basis of absorption of amino acids is discussed in detail. There are reviews of the processes of protein synthesis and degradation, and their hormonal and energetic regulation.Table of ContentBiochemical and methodological principles, B.O.Eggum; digestion in pigs, A.G.Low and T.Zebrowska; digestion in poultry, A.G.Low and T.Zebrowska; digestion in fish, R.P.Wilson; anatomy and function of the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, J.Kowalczyk; nitrogen metabolism in the ruminant stomach, R.H.Smith; digestion and exchange of nitrogen, R.H.Smith and T.Zebrowska; physiology of intestinal digestion and absorption, M.Friedrich; metabolism of proteins and amino acids, O.Simon; hormonal effects on protein turnover, B.Evers; bioenergetics of protein retention, M.Klein and L.Hoffmann.