MICROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF CONSTITUENTS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN IN FEEDSTUFFS FOR ANIMALS

The Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis (BSE) and the prohibition of animal meals in particular instances brought again the importance of the mic roscopic diagnosis of the components in the mixed feeds. The presence of animal meal is insured by the observation of specific constituents : muscle fibers, bone fragments, feather particles, hair or wool bits, fish scales. This observation is made by microscopy (magnification 10 0' up to 200'), after a fine pulverisation and a separation according the specific gravimetry in carbon tetrachlor (CCl4) and then a light h ydrolysis with a 0.2 p 100 KOK solution. The caracteristic constituent s of the more used animal meals are described and illustraded. This is an original, fast, qualitative and simple method, its sensitivity is high since it proceeds from the observation of a few constituents only .