Chapter 21: Nutritional Contributions of Minerals to Humans and Animals

1. Chapter 21: Nutritional Contributions of Minerals to Humans and Animals • Chapter overview: • Chapter 21 presents the impacts of minerals on animal health: • identification and major sources of minerals • functions of minerals • impacts of mineral deficiencies

2. General Comments: • There appears to be little difference in requirements for the minerals between species • Requirements can be significantly impacted by other organic or inorganic components of the diet • Example: phytin binds phosphorus and increases zinc requirement

3. General Comments: • Minerals are abundant in many natural feedstuffs, but • Supplementation of feeds and foods with common inorganic major sources of minerals is typical

4. The Minerals: • Minerals are generally categorized as: • Macrominerals: those required in larger amounts, such as Ca, P, Mg, Na, Cl, K, S • example: calcium requirement may be 0.5% in some diets • Microminerals: those required in very small amounts, such as Fe, Cu, I, Co, Zn, Mn, Se, Mo, F • example: Zn requirement may be 50mg/kg (0.005%) in some diets

5. The Macrominerals:

6. Calcium (Ca): • Functions - bone and tooth formation, blood clotting, muscle contraction • Deficiency symptoms - rickets, slow growth, osteomalacia, tetany, thin-shelled eggs • Major sources - milk, legumes, bone meal, dicalcium phosphate, limestone

7. Phosphorus (P): • Functions - bone and tooth formation; part of DNA, RNA, and many enzyme systems • Deficiency symptoms - rough hair coat, pica, slow growth • Major sources - milk, eggs, oilseeds, cereal grains, bone meal, dicalcium phosphate

8. Magnesium (Mg): • Functions - enzyme activator, component of skeletal tissue • Deficiency symptoms - anorexia, hyperirritability, muscular twitching and tetany, profuse salivation • Major sources - abundant in feeds, especially green, leafy vegetables and grains

9. Sodium (Na): • Functions - muscle contraction, maintenance of osmotic pressure of body fluids • Deficiency symptoms - loss of appetite and weight, salt craving, soil eating, • Major sources - common salt added to supplements or in free-choice blocks

10. Chlorine (Cl): • Functions - maintenance of osmotic pressure of body fluids, acid-base activity, production of HCl in stomach • Deficiency symptoms - craving for salt, reduced appetite • Major sources - common salt added to supplements or in free-choice block form

11. Potassium (K): • Functions - maintenance of electrolyte balance, enzyme activator, muscle function • Deficiency symptoms - heart lesions, weight loss, reduced appetite, muscle weakness, poor wool growth • Major sources - widely distributed throughout feeds and foods

12. Sulfur (S): • Functions - component of sulfur-containing amino acids • Deficiency symptoms - slow growth, poor feed efficiency, slow wool growth in sheep • Major sources - oilseed meals, forages, cereal grains

13. The Microminerals:

14. Iron (Fe): • Functions - carrier of oxygen as a component of hemoglobin and myoglobin, component of many enzyme systems • Deficiency symptoms - anemia, diarrhea, loss of appetite • Major sources - eggs, forages and grains, soil (example: rooting by pigs in soil)

15. Copper (Cu): • Functions - erythropoiesis, component of coenzyme system, hair pigmentation, collagen and elastin synthesis • Deficiency symptoms - depraved appetite, stunted growth, diarrhea, bleached hair and wool, ataxic gait, anemia • Major sources - common in normal grains and forages

16. Iodine (I): • Functions - component of thyroxine • Deficiency symptoms - goiter, hairless pigs and woolless lambs at birth, poor performance • Major sources - added to almost all salt sources (“iodized salt”), cod-liver oil

17. Cobalt (Co): • Functions - component of vitamin B12, red blood cell formation, rumen microorganism function • Deficiency symptoms - loss of appetite and emaciation, weakness, rough hair coat, anemia • Major sources - inorganic cobalt supplementation in the diet

18. Zinc (Zn): • Functions - enzyme activator and component • Deficiency symptoms - poor growth, feathering, and hatchability; anorexia; parakeratosis • Major sources - widely distributed in feeds, with forages being major sources

19. Manganese (Mn): • Functions - growth, bone formation, enzyme activator • Deficiency symptoms - lowered egg shell strength and hatchability, perosis in poultry, lameness and stiffness • Major sources - widely distributed in cereal grains, oilseeds, and legumes

20. Selenium (Se): • Functions - related to vitamin E function, destroys peroxides (antioxidant) • Deficiency symptoms - necrosis of liver, white muscle disease in ruminants • Major sources - oilseeds and grains • Note - excess is quite toxic

21. Molybdenum (Mo): • Functions - component of enzyme systems • Deficiency symptoms - deficiency relatively unknown • Major sources - widely distributed in feeds and foods • Note - deficiency of Mo accentuates Cu toxicity, excess Mo reduces Cu absorption

22. Fluorine (Fl): • Functions - tooth enamel formation, prevention of tooth decay in humans • Deficiency symptoms - poor enamel formation • Major sources - fluoride added to water • Note - narrow range of “requirement”; excess causes tooth enamel abnormalities

23. Other mineral considerations: • Although only produced under laboratory conditions, deficiency symptoms can be created for: • Vanadium • Arsenic • Nickel • Tin