Proximate Composition Of Wheat, Barley And Compound Feed

Abstract

Proximate analysis is a fundamental approach for evaluating the nutritional composition and quality of food and feed ingredients. The present study determined the proximate composition of wheat grain, barley grain, and commercial compound feed using standard AOAC analytical methods. Moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, crude ash, and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) were quantified to compare the nutritional characteristics of the three feed materials. The results showed that compound feed contained the highest crude protein (18.6%), crude fat (18.0%), and ash (6.5%) contents, reflecting its formulation to meet the nutritional requirements of livestock. Wheat exhibited intermediate protein (12.4%) and fat (7.04%) contents but the highest crude fiber (17.0%), whereas barley contained 11.2% crude protein, 4.96% crude fat, and 5.6% crude fiber with the highest NFE (63.9%), indicating a greater proportion of digestible carbohydrates. Moisture contents ranged from 10.5% to 12.1%, remaining within acceptable limits for safe storage and reduced microbial deterioration. The findings demonstrate that proximate analysis provides a rapid, reliable, and cost-effective method for assessing the nutritional quality of feed ingredients and supports informed feed formulation and quality control. These baseline data contribute to the nutritional evaluation of locally available cereal grains and commercial feed and provide a useful reference for livestock nutrition and feed manufacturing.