Protein hunger of the feed sector: the alternatives offered by the plant world

Figures & data

Table 1. Production of main pulses' seed (1000 t) and relative trends at World, European and Italian geographical level in the last decades (FAOSTAT, 2019).

FAO Code^a	FAO item	2007			2012			2017			Diff. 2007-2017 (%)
		World	Europe	Italy	World	Europe	Italy	World	Europe	Italy	World	Europe	Italy
176	Beans (dry)	21,737.90	337.1	12.1	24,449.50	467.3	11.8	31,405.90	1,104.30	11.2	44.5	227.6	−7.4
187	Peas (dry)	9,106.00	2,655.90	40.6	10,563.80	3,328.70	24	16,205.40	7,084.80	48.5	78.0	166.8	19.5
191	Chick peas	9,690.30	75.8	6.3	11,519.40	117.9	11.2	14,776.80	560.4	33.5	52.5	639.3	431.7
181	Broad beans (dry)	3,892.70	607.6	93	4,494.80	817	96	4,840.10	990.6	92.8	24.3	63.0	−0.2
201	Lentils	3,225.10	33.4	1.3	4,491.10	80.9	1.8	7,590.80	275.6	3.7	135.4	725.1	184.6
195	Cow peas (dry)	5,332.30	24.1		8,357.10	23.8		7,407.90	26.8		38.9	11.2
197	Pigeon peas	3,602.60			3,973.20			6,807.60			89.0
211	Pulses, nes	3,215.30	736.3		4,209.70	1,017.30	4.5	4,233.00	842.6	4.9	31.7	14.4	8.9*
210	Lupins	778	192.8	5	1,325.80	228.8	4.7	1,611.00	442.5	4.7	107.1	129.5	−6.0
205	Vetches	981.1	494.6	8	945	343.4	8.6	920.5	415	9.1	−6.2	−16.1	13.8
203	Bambara beans	105.6			162			179.5			70.0
	Total pulses	61,666.90	5,157.60	166.30	74,491.40	6,425.10	162.60	95,978.50	11,742.60	208.40	55.6	127.7	25.3

^a 176: Phaseolus vulgaris, P. lunatus, P. angularis or Vigna angularis, P. aureus, P. mungo or Vigna mungo, P. coccineus, P. calcaratus, P. aconitifolius, P. acutifolius, V. radiate, V. aconitifolia; 187: Pisum sativum, P. arvense; 191: Cicer arietinum; 181: Vicia faba var. equina, V. faba var. major, V. faba var. minor; 201: Lens esculenta, Ervum lens; 195: Vigna sinensis, Dolichos sinensis; 197: Cajanus cajan; 211: Other pulses that are not identified separately because of their minor relevance at the international level (Dolichos spp., Canavalia spp., Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, Stizolobium spp., Pachyrrhizus erosus); 210: Lupinus spp.; 205: Vicia sativa; 203: Voandzeia subterranea or Vigna subterranean. *Diff. 2012-2017 (%).

Table 2. Harvested area, crop production, and estimated yearly amount of the crude protein availability for buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), linseed (Linum usitatissimum), sesame (Sesamum indicum), and safflower (Cartamus tintorius) (FOASTAT, 2019).

Crop	2007		2012		2017		Diff. 2007-2017 (%)
	World	Europe	World	Europe	World	Europe	World	Europe
Buckwheat
Average cultivated area, 1000 ha	2,739.37	1,656.78	2,491.91	1,494.21	3,940.53	1,893.13	43.8	14.3
Average seed production, 1000 tons	2,378.85	1,472.75	2,262.98	1,318.00	3,827.75	2,045.10	60.9	38.9
Average seed yield, t/ha	0.87	0.89	0.91	0.88	0.97	1.08	11.5	21.3
Crude protein content, g/kg DM^a	126	126	126.00	126.00	126	126	0	0
CP availability from the crop, 1000 tons^a	272.76	168.87	259.47	151.12	438.89	234.49	60.9	38.9
Quinoa
Average cultivated area, 1000 ha	76.8		172.2		173.2		125.5
Average seed production, 1000 tons	59.1		97.4		146.7		148.2
Average seed yield, t/ha	0.77		0.57		0.85		10.4
Crude protein content, g/kg DMb	152		152.0		152		0
CP availability from the crop, 1000 tons^b	8.18		13.47		20.3		148.2
Linseed
Average cultivated area, 1000 ha	1,977.20	240.7	2,456.6	725.0	2,778.00	735.1	40.5	205.4
Average seed production, 1000 tons	1,658.20	201.5	2,024.7	498.7	2,794.30	799	68.5	296.5
Average seed yield, t/ha	0.84	0.84	0.82	0.69	1.01	1.09	20.2	29.8
Crude protein content, g/kg^c	350	350	350.0	350.0	350	350	0.0	0.0
CP availability from the crop, 1000 tons^c	528.1	64.2	644.9	158.8	890	254.5	68.5	296.4
Sesame
Average cultivated area, 1000 ha	7,126.50	0.3	8,536.2	0.3	9,983.20	0.6	40.1	100
Average seed production, 1000 tons	3,631.00	0.2	5,406.9	0.4	5,534.90	0.6	52.4	200
Average seed yield, t/ha	0.51	0.69	0.63	1.13	0.55	1.05	7.8	52.2
Crude protein content, g/kg DM^d	255	255	255.0	255.0	255	255	0	0
Average CP recovery from meal, 1000 tons^d	842.6	0	1,254.7	0.1	1,284.40	0.1	52.4	0*
Safflower
Average cultivated area, 1000 ha	753.9	0.4	968.6	16.4	840.8	154.6	11.5	38550
Average seed production, 1000 tons	617.5	0.2	606.9	9.1	741.5	105.9	20.1	52850
Average seed yield, t/ha	0.74	0.48	0.80	0.56	0.83	0.69	12.2	43.8
Crude protein content, g/kg DM^e	211	211	211.0	211.0	211	211	0	0
Average CP recovery from meal, 1000 tons^e	118.6	0	116.5	1.7	142.4	20.3	20.1	1060.4*

CP: crude protein; DM: dry matter

^a Air dry basis (Farrel, 1978)

^b Data on Dry Matter basis and Crude Protein from De Bruin (1964)

^c Adopting a Dry Matter (DM) content of 906 g/kg (Heuzé et al., 2017a) and a minimum Crude Protein (CP) content of 350 g/kg DM (Sammour, 1999)

^d Bahkali, Hussain, Basahy. (1998).

^e Adopting an average dry matter content of 910 g/kg and an average crude protein (CP) content of 211 g/kg DM (Heuzè et al., 2015)

* Diff. (%) 2012-2017.

Table 3. Proximate composition (% DM), energy (kcal/kg DM), other constituents, and amino acids content in oil extraction processed linseed (Linus usitatissimum), sesame (Sesamum indicum) and safflower (Cartamus tintorius).

	Linseed meal/expeller	Sesame meal		Safflower meal/expeller
		Whole	Part. dehulled	Whole	Part. dehulled
Proximate composition
Dry matter, %	90.00^a	92.40^a		91.30^a	91.2^a
Crude protein	34.00^b–35.00^a	45.00^a	40.00^b	23.00^a	40.00^b–43.11
Fat	2.00^a–6.02	4.80^a	6.00^b	1.40^a	1.60^a–6.02
Ash	6.20^a–8.02	13.00^a	12.00^b	4.70^a	6.00^b–7.11
Crude Fibre	9.00^b–9.21	6.70^a	8.00^b	31.40^a	11.51^a–15.02
NFE	37.60^a–43.02	24.20^a	34.00^b	30.80^a	28.00^a–33.02
Energy
DE – cattle	15.00–16.23	16.60^d
ME – cattle	11.60–12.63	12.50^d		8.30^e	11.70^e
DE – pig		13.10^a–15.74		8.1^e–11.11	14.70^a
ME – pig	14.30^c	14.40^d
DE – chicken	13.50^a	14.40–14.71		6.70^a	11.60^a
ME – chicken	6.70^b–7.11	9.50–9.91	8.36^b	5.20^f–5.41	7.50–8.42
ME – hens	–			8.96
DE – rabbits	14.10^a
DE – fish (rainbow trout)	17.70^a
ME – fish (rainbow trout)	13.10^a	12.80^c
Other constituents
Ca, g/kg DM	3.80^a–4.02		20.00^b–23.31		3.00^b
P, g/kg DM	8.00^b–8.51		12.90^a–13.02		8.00^b
Phytic acid, g/kg DM			36.0^b
Phytate P, g/kg DM			1.8^b
Amino acids, g/100 g N^a or g/100 g CP^b
Arg	3.10^a–9.82	4.80^a–12.82		2.00^a	3.40^a–9.22
Cys	2.00^b	2.20^b			1.60^b
Gly	5.70^b	1.10^a–5.62			3.00^b
Hys	0.80^a–2.22	2.8^b		0.50^a	1.00^a–2.52
Ile	1.70–4.52	1.90^a–3.82		0.50^a	1.50^a–4.22
Leu	2.20^a–6.02	3.10^a–7.62		1.30^a	2.40^a–6.22
Lys	1.20^a–3.02	1.30^a–3.82		0.70^a	1.20^a–3.22
Met	0.60^a–1.92	1.30^a–3.22		0.30^a	0.60^a–1.62
Phe	1.60^a–4.82	2.10^a–5.52		1.00^a	1.80^a–5.02
Thr	1.30^a–4.02	1.60^a–3.82		0.60^a	1.30^a–3.32
Trp	1.80^b	0.70^a–1.52		0.20^a	0.50^a–1.52
Tyr	2.90^b	4.5^b			3.00^b
Val	1.80^a–5.42	2.20^a–4.82		1.10^a	2.00^a–5.52

DM: dry matter; NFE: nitrogen free extracts; DE: digestible energy; ME: metabolisable energy; CP: crude protein.

^aData from Petersen et al. (1976); ^bData from Ravindran and Blair (1992); ^cData from Hertrampf and Piedad-Pasqual (2000); ^dData from Heuzé, Tran, Nozière, et al. (2017); ^eData from Heuzé, Tran, Bastianelli, et al. (2017); ^fData from Heuzé et al. (2015).

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