Nutrition In Animals And Importance – Biology ss1

By /

Hi, welcome to this hall on the topic: Nutrition in animals and their importance in biology ss1 class.

Explore the process of nutrition in animals, types of animal nutrition, and the importance of proper feeding. This SS1 Biology guide explains how animals obtain and utilize food for growth, energy, and overall health.

CONTENT

  1. Nutrition in animals
  2. Food substances
  3. Classification of food substance
  4. Balanced diet and food test
  5. Revision Questions

See Also

Food Substances Of Nutrition In Animals

Definition: Food substances refers to the materials or substances of food eaten by animals to enable them to survive and for their daily activities. These food substances are: Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats and oil, Mineral salts, Vitamins, Water, Roughages.

All living organisms need foods for their survival and daily activities. Plants can manufacture their food through the process of photosynthesis, hence they are called autotrophs. On the other hand, animal cannot manufacture their food as they depend on plants directly or indirectly for their food, hance they are called heterotrophs.

Animals sometimes are classified according to the types of food they eat. On this basis, their classified into three groups,

Classification of animal based on the type of food.

  1. Carnivorous animals: These animals feed only on flesh, examples: lion, dog, lizard, snake and cat.
  2. Herbivorous animals: These animals feed on plants, examples; goats, sheep and rabbit.
  3. Omnivorous animals: These animal feed on both plants and animals, e.g. man and pig.

Classification Of Food Substances

  1. Carbohydrates
  2. Proteins
  3. Fats and oil
  4. Mineral salts
  5. Vitamins
  6. Water
  7. Roughages.

(a) Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates is made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The ratio of hydrogen to oxygen is 2:1 as in the case with water. They have a general formula of C (H2O).

Sources Of carbohydrates: The main sources of carbohydrate include yam, rice, maize, millet, Guinea corn, potatoes, bread and garri.

Types Of Carbohydrates

  1. Monosaccharides (simple sugar).
  2. Disaccharides (Reducing sugars).
  3. Polysaccharides (Complex sugar)

Importance Of Carbohydrates

  • Carbohydrate provide energy required by animals for their daily activities.
  • It also provides heat, during its oxidation, used in maintaining the body temperature.
  • Carbohydrate are also used to build certain body parts, e.g. exoskeleton of arthropods.
  • Mucus, an important lubricant in our bodies, is composed of carbohydrates.

(b) Protein

Proteins are complex molecules and are made up of smaller unit called amino acid.

Composition of protein: Protein is composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sometimes phosphorus and sulfur.

Sources of protein: Animal sources of proteins are milk, egg, fish and cheese, meat and chicken while plant sources are beans (cowpea), groundnut and soya beans.

Importance Of Protein

  • Protein is used for the growth of young ones.
  • It is used for the repair of worn-out tissue or cells.
  • It aid reproduction.
  • It is used for the production of enzymes.
  • It is also used for the production of hormones
  • It is used for tissue and cell formation (body building).

(c) Fats And Oil

Fats and oils are also called lipids. Fats are solid lipids at room temperature while oils are liquid lipids at room temperature.

Composition of fat and oil: Fats and oil are composed of carbon, hydrogen and little oxygen.

Sources of fat and oil: Sources of fats and oils are palm oil, groundnut, soyabean oil. melon oil, butter, fish, cheese, and margarine and lard.

Importance Of Fats And Oil

  • Fats and oils provide more energy to animals than carbohydrates.
  • Fats supply essential fatty acid to animals.
  • Fats and oils also provide fat soluble vitamins.
  • They help in the maintenance of body temperature.

(d) Mineral salts

Animals require various mineral salts for metabolic activities within the body. Except for sodium chloride (table salt) and few medicine like iron tablets which can be taken directly by Man, other mineral salts are usually taken a minute quantity through the food we eat. Lack of these mineral salts will result in a nutritional deficiency.

Classes of mineral salts: These include calcium, phosphorus magnesium, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, iron, iodine, Manganese, fluorine, copper and cobalt.

(e) Vitamins

Vitamins are organic food substances required by man and other animals only in small amount for normal growth and healthy development. Inadequate or lack of these vitamins do lead to nutritional deficiency in animals generally.

Group Of Vitamins

  1. Fat soluble vitamins
  2. Water soluble vitamins.

(f) Water

Composition of water: Water is composed of two elements – hydrogen and oxygen.

Sources of water: Sources of water available to animals include metabolic water from food, drinking water from rivers, taps, rain and ponds.

Importance Of Water

Water is very important to animals in the following way:

  • Water is required for metabolic activities in the body.
  • It is necessary for the digestion of food.
  • It can be used for the maintenance of body temperature.
  • Water is the main components of plants and animals, example; it forms about 75% of man’s body.
  • It act as a solvent for soluble food substances in digestion.
  • It act as a medium of transportation for nutrients.
  • It constitutes a greater part of blood.
  • It also aids the excretion of metabolic waste product from the body, e.g. urine.
  • It also helped to maintain the osmotic content of the body tissues.
  • It is the basis of body secretion from endocrine glands.

(g) Roughages

Roughages consists of indigestible fibrous materials derived from vegetable, fruits, carbohydrate and protein. Roughages provide bulk to the intestinal content thereby simulating the movement of bowels. Lack of roughages in the diet can cause constipation. Roughages can be easily digested by micro-organisms in the intestinal tract.

Balance Diet And Food Test

Definition: Balanced diet is a diet containing all the six food classes or types of food in the right proportion to meet the bodies requirement for growth, repair and Maintenance.

Percentage composition of food substances of Nutrition in animals

  • Protein 15%
  • Fats and oil 15%
  • Vitamins, mineral and water 10%
  • Carbohydrates 60%

Importance Of Balanced Diet

  • Balanced diet makes us healthy and by so doing make us to be resistant to disease.
  • It encourages growth and normal development of the body.
  • It also provide energy required for normal activities.
  • Balance diet prevent malnutrition efficiency or disease. Lack of some food substances, e.g. Protein in a diet can cause a nutritional disease called kwashiorkor in children.

Food Tests

(1) Test For Protein (Biuret test)

  • Take a small quantity of fresh milk or egg white solution.
  • Add 1cm of protein and sodium hydroxide and 1% copper (II) solution in drops.
  • Shake the mixture after each drop. Do not heat.

Observation

  • Mixture will turn to purple or violet colour.

Inference: Protein is present.

(2) Tests for Starch

  • Collect any starch material like bread or yam.
  • Add two drops of dilute iodine solution

Observation

  • The colour will change to blue-black.

Inference: starch is present.

(3) Tests for simple sugar, e.g, glucose & fructose

  • Put a small quantity of glucose solution in a test tube
  • Add 2% Benedict solution.
  • Boil the mixture for 4 – 6 minutes.

Observation

  • A brick-red or orange precipitation is seen.

Inference: Glucose is present.

(4) Tests for reducing sugar, e.g, sucrose, maltose & lactose

  • Put a small quantity of sucrose solution in a test tube
  • Add few drop of Benedict or Fehling solution
  • Add few drop of Hcl;
  • Boil the mixture for few minutes.
  • Note: Dilute Hcl and boiling will help to hydrolyzed the sucrose to simple sugars e.g, glucose.

Observation

  • A yellow precipitation is observed

Inference: Sucrose or non-reducing sugar is present.

(5) Tests for fats and oils (Translucent test)

  • Drop oil on a spot on a filter paper.
  • Observe the spot against a source of light.

Observation

  • The drop of oil becomes more translucent, i.e. it allows more light to pass through when held in front of it.

Tests for fats and oils: Sudan (iii) test

  • Add few drops of Sudan (iii) solution to oil in a test tube,
  • Boil the solution.

Observation

  • A red coloration appear before boiling. A black precipitate is formed on boiling.

Inference: translucency shows the presence of art and oil

(6) Test for Water

  • Dip a blue, dry cobalt chloride paper in a food item.

Observation: The colour of the paper changes from blue to Pink.

Inference: Water is present.

Revision Questions

  1. In nutrition in animals, list six classification of food substances.
  2. What are the importance of carbohydrates?
  3. What is protein? Discuss 5 importance of protein in animals nutrition.
  4. What is balanced diet? State four importance of balanced diet.
Scroll to Top