As moulds grow, the nutnent content of grams, oilseeds or
feed IS altered Moulds are considered the pnncipal reason
for the destruction of fats in gram during storage, which
occurs more rapidly than the destruction of other nutnents,
such as carbohydrates and protems. Estimated losses m
metabolizable energy in corn due to mould growth range
from 5% to 25 % (table 1) depending on the mould species
mvolved Decreases
m protem content and ammo acid levels are usually not
measurable until the gram or feed IS m an advanced stage of
detenoration Although mould growth reduces all the ammo
acids m the gram, cysteine, lysine and argmme appear to be
more severely affected than the others
Mould growth may also
result m lowered protem availability