Nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors in animal feed and fecal samples

Nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors were calculated for diets and fecal samples from three animal species fed low- or high-fiber diets. The conversion factors based on protein contents determined by amino acid analyses were calculated from total N (Kjeldahl analyses) and recovered amino acid plus NH3-N (amino acid analyses). Conversion factors based on protein contents determined by a fluorescamine assay for amino acids were also calculated from total Kjeldahl-N. The conversion factors based on Kjeldahl-N averaged 5.3 +/- .7 for the diets and 4.0 +/- .5 for the feces in the six animal and diet comparisons when calculated from anhydrous amino acid formula weights. The greatest deviations from the traditional 6.25 conversion factor occurred in the fecal samples of ruminant animals fed a corn-alfalfa meal diet at a maintenance level of intake. In contrast, conversion factors based on amino acid plus NH3-N were quite stable. These factors averaged 5.7 +/- .1 for feeds and 5.5 +/- .1 for feces when calculated from anhydrous amino acid residue weights.