MammalBase - Proximate Analysis

Proximate analysis is used to estimate the relative amounts of water (moisture), ash, crude fat (ether extract, lipid), crude protein and crude fibre in a food item (Henneberg, W., 1860.). The analysis scheme was designed to replicate animal digestion process and quantify shares of organic and inorganic materials. Nitrogen-free extract (NFE) is calculated by difference rather than measured by analysis and more or less represents sugars and starches. Proximate Analysis provides a top-level, very broad, classification of food items which has been replaced by more modern analyses for nutritional studies. However, the proximate analysis still forms the basis for feed analysis and a large number of studies provide a good source for data.

We have collected chemical compound data for proximate analysis of dietary items from primary sources. Our focus is on wild animal diet components and less conventional human foods, avoiding (but not excluding entirely) cultivated crops or bred animals. Currently, we have Proximate Analysis data for 999 diet items. Many of the reported values miss the moisture, and for this reason, we have discarded water and renormalized chemical composition on the dry matter basis.

Atwater WO, Woods CD, 1896. The chemical composition of american food materials. Farmers' Bulletin No. 28. US Department of Agriculture. Washington.

Henneberg, W., 1860. Beiträge zur begründung einer rationellen fütterung der wiederkäuer: Praktisch-landwirthschaftliche und chemischphysiologische untersuchungen. Für landwirthe und physiologen (Vol. 1). CA Schwetschke und sohn.