Nutritional services

The Nutrition, Health and Neuroscience Laboratory offers analytical services to industry and academic clients. This page lists the sample types the laboratory accepts, the services it offers, and how to send samples.

Sample types and requirements

Plant matter

Forages, grains, and plant tissue

Ingredient or diet

Single ingredients, complete diets, premixes

Pet treats

Chews, biscuits, jerky, dental treats

Digesta, excreta, or feces

Intestinal contents, feces, poultry excreta

Blood, serum, or plasma

Whole blood or a separated fraction

Requirements

Plasma must be collected in sodium heparin tubes (preferred) or sodium citrate tubes (accepted).
Plasma must never be collected in lithium heparin tubes, because lithium heparin interferes with the color-development step of most kits.
For long-chain fatty acids (such as DHA and EPA), plasma is preferred over serum; send 0.8 to 1.0 mL per sample in a cryovial of its own.

Tissue, meat, or bone

Organs, muscle, meat products, bone

Services

Sample processing

Drying Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces; Tissue, meat, or bone
Grinding Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces; Tissue, meat, or bone
Shipment to external lab All sample types
Other sample processing All sample types

Proximate composition

Crude protein Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces; Tissue, meat, or bone
Crude fat Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces; Tissue, meat, or bone
Other proximate analysis Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces; Tissue, meat, or bone

Lipids

Acid-hydrolyzed fat Sample types: Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces; Tissue, meat, or bone
Volatile fatty acids (VFA, SCFA, BCFA) Sample types: Digesta, excreta, or feces
Long-chain fatty acids Sample types: Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Blood, serum, or plasma; Tissue, meat, or bone
Other lipid analysis All sample types

Carbohydrates

Detergent fiber series Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces
Total dietary fiber (TDF) Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats
Starch Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces
Non-structural carbohydrates Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats
Monosaccharides Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces
Oligosaccharides, total Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces
Chitin (GlcN + GlcNAc) Sample types: Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Tissue, meat, or bone
Lactulose and mannitol Sample types: Blood, serum, or plasma
Other carbohydrate analysis All sample types

Miscellaneous

Amino acids Sample types: Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces; Blood, serum, or plasma; Tissue, meat, or bone
Bomb calorimetry (gross energy) Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats; Digesta, excreta, or feces; Tissue, meat, or bone
Minerals All sample types
Fecal dry matter Sample types: Digesta, excreta, or feces
Phenols and indoles Sample types: Digesta, excreta, or feces
Ammonia Sample types: Digesta, excreta, or feces; Blood, serum, or plasma
Bone breaking strength Sample types: Tissue, meat, or bone
Bone mineral content Sample types: Tissue, meat, or bone
Phenolics Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats
ELISA kit Sample types: Digesta, excreta, or feces; Blood, serum, or plasma; Tissue, meat, or bone
Gene expression Sample types: Tissue, meat, or bone; Blood, serum, or plasma; Digesta, excreta, or feces
Pet treat dissolution assay Sample types: Pet treats
Polyphenols Sample types: Plant matter; Ingredient or diet; Pet treats
Send sampling supplies All sample types
Other analysis All sample types

Service terms

Turnaround: Reporting dates are confirmed with the client when a submission is received.
Reporting: Results are reported on an as-received basis. A dry-matter basis is reported on request when moisture is ordered.
Sample size: Submit at least 200 g of feed or dry pet food, or two unopened cans of wet pet food, in a sealed, labeled container with a completed submission form.
Sample retention: Samples are retained for 30 days after the report date and then discarded.
Basis of prices: Prices are cost-based and include the University of Illinois facilities and administrative rate for other sponsored activities (30.8%). They are reviewed each July 1 and apply for the fiscal year stated.
Agreement: Testing is provided under a University of Illinois Technical Testing Agreement. Results are reported without interpretation.

Shipping address

Nutritional Services
191 Animal Sciences Laboratory, 1207 W. Gregory Dr., Urbana, IL 61801

Prices

Prices are estimates. The quote we return is final.

See the price list

Clients

Client sign-in and online access requests open when the portal's permanent address is in place. Until then, please contact the laboratory through its website.