Selecting more nutritious forms of vegetables and fruits

[saysfaa]

Anyone trying to work out the percentages for themselves would presumably have to use a generic figure for e.g. 'corn' though, so we'd need to know which variety of corn was tested to produce the generic figure wouldn't we?

And it would still be a rough estimate at best. The soil it is grown in makes a huge difference also, and climate including variations in the same year - micro climates or differences from year to year or whether it was planted earlier or later than the same variety in the next field. Whether it was harvested at peak nutrition, sometimes how it was harvested, if it was dried correctly, how it was stored, I'm sure there are more.... oh, yeah, like what other plants are in the field.

Thankfully, most nutrients have a pretty wide window between deficiency and toxicity in most species. Unfortunately, not all species do for every nutrient. If you are pushing the limits of things like production or living conditions, or your population is big enough, than the window to see a difference is narrower.

Even if it would be a rough estimate without testing, I think it is worth paying attention to for our birds and other animals because often a limiting factor for health or growth is how much they can eat. If ingredients have more nutrients per volume or weight, one has more options to get other nutrients to optimal levels.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Anyone trying to work out the percentages for themselves would presumably have to use a generic figure for e.g. 'corn' though, so we'd need to know which variety of corn was tested to produce the generic figure wouldn't we?

Thatr is true. One of the reasons I like using Feedipedia as a source is not just that they have so many potential ingredients listed, but that they have the range of test results listed from which they derived their values.

They list three different soybean meals, based on their claimed protein content, then, within those meals, they break it down further -

Looking at the first two rows, we see over 1200 samples of high protein soybean meal were checked for moisture content, which ranged from 86.3% dry matter to 95.9% dry matter, averaging 88% dry matter. In nearly 1400 samples checked for protein content, it ranged from a low of 48.9% to a high of 58.5%, with an average of 55.2%.

Details like that give some idea of variation, crop to crop, cultivar to cultivar (and sometimes, their "nutritional aspects" page will discuss broad variations in cultivars as well.

On of the reasons my efforts at helping people with feed recipes targets the high end of the recommends is because my charts (with info from Feedipedia) use the average figures - so if a particular batch of 50# high protein soy meal is at the very low end of tested range, its less critical than if we built a low protein recipe which relied on soy meal at 55.2% protein for the majority of the feed's protein-based nutrition.

Of course, if you have a guaranteed nutritional label (say you are using Fertrell's fish meal), you should use that, to the extent you can, over any averages.

But for those of us buying a 50# bag of bulk corn or bulk hard winter wheat, no nutrition label is going to be present, all we can do is play the averages. That makes home feeds inherently, unavoidably, unreliable.

 

[Brooks_]

My copy came today, or yesterday, or the day before. Whatever, I checked the mail today.

 

[Sally PB]

My copy of Eating on the Wild Side came on Tuesday. I'm reading it and working up (yet) another list of seeds to order, when I thought I was done. Yeah, right.

In trying to source the pink-red or purple fleshed potatoes, I'm finding most of them sold out. I'll be ordering some for summer 2023, though, that's for sure. I had no idea the nutrition value was SO different from the plain ol' white russets I've been growing. Another potato issue I have is late blight, so resistance to that is a big plus for me, but it won't be the deciding factor on what I try to get.

Tomatoes, ah, tomatoes. I didn't like them raw as a kid. I discovered them in my late teens. I've been eating them overtime to make up for those "lost" 18 years.

I like the sweetness of cherry tomatoes, but they don't have to be supersweet for me. They are a garden snack. None of them make it to the house until they start coming on really strong.

 

[RubelliteRose]

In trying to source the pink-red or purple fleshed potatoes, I'm finding most of them sold out.

Not sure what variety you are looking for, but our Tractor Supply just got their potatoes in this week and had plenty of purple potatoes.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Not sure what variety you are looking for, but our Tractor Supply just got their potatoes in this week and had plenty of purple potatoes.View attachment 3005126

I saw those also at Lowes, and something similar at Walmart.

 

[Perris]

My copy arrived a couple of days ago and I've learned a lot from it; thanks again @saysfaa