Proximate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the linguistic sense, see Grammatical person.

For proximate causation, see Proximate and ultimate causation.

For proximate cause in law, see Proximate cause.

Proximates are used in the analysis of biological materials as a decomposition of a human-consumable good into its major constituents.

What people consider proximates may vary, but usually includes:

• Water
• Carbohydrates
• Proteins
• Dietary fibres
• Fatty acids
• Ash
• Vitamins
• Dietary minerals
• Alcohol

What makes proximates particular is that the total of their presence in the food must always sum up to 100%. The nutritional information on food containers usually specifies the nutrients in terms of proximates, but these seldom add up to 100%, indicating that the manufacturer left out some of the insignificant ones such as water.