Macro mineral status and dietary Cation-Anion difference value of some indian feeds and fodders

Calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, potassium, magnesium and sulphur contents of commonly used feeds and fodders were estimated for calculating their dietary cation anion difference (DCAD) value. Calcium and phosphorus contents among different concentrate ingredients varied from (0.11–0.67%) and (0.28–1.61%) showing more than 1:2 ratio of Ca to P. Calcium concentration in forages was much higher than in cereal grains. Maize and mustard fodder showed Ca: P ratio of 2:1, whereas berseem contained five times more Ca than phosphorus. Rice bran, wheat bran and oilseed meals were especially rich in P as compared to other feed sources. Mg content in wheat and wheat straw was low (0.15 ppm) as compared to other feedstuffs. There was huge variation in Na (0.27–1.30%) and K (0.56–3.36%) content of different feeds. Sulphur content ranged from (0.27–0.92%) with an average value of 0.45 per cent in concentrates and 0.64–0.94 with average value of 0.78 per cent in roughages. Maximum variation was observed in chloride contentof different feeds. Five different equations were employed to calculate the DCAD value of different feeds and fodders. Amongst concentrate ingredients, DCAD value of rice bran was lowest (−322.37 meq/100g DM) because of its high chloride content (10.59%). Among roughages, mustard had lowest DCAD value of −21.86 and berseem had highest DCAD value of 40.79 meq/100g DM.