Skeletal muscle is a highly dynamic and malleable tissue that is able to adapt to different stimuli placed upon it, both during gestation and after birth, ultimately resulting in anatomical changes to muscle fibre composition. Variation in nutrient supply throughout gestation is common, whether in livestock or in the human. The specific effects of maternal nutrition on foetal development are at...

1. Groups of adult colostimized chickens were given diets with and without dietary fibre in the form of bagasse or wheat straw. The fibrous materials were analysed for their contents of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The digestible energies (DE) and metabolizable energies (ME) of these diets were measured by a balance method. 2. Groups of germ-free and conventional chicks aged 4 weeks wer...

Five grass species (Dactylis glomerata L., Phleum pratense L., Lolium perenne L., Festuca arundinacea L. and the hybrid Felina (Lolium multiflorum L. × Festuca arundinacea L.)), commonly used in roughages for ruminants, were harvested at different maturities of primary growth (n = 60) and evaluated for contents of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ash, crude fat, neutral detergent fibre (NDF...

Dietary fibre rose to prominence in the late 1960s. For a decade it held the enthusiastic attention of many doctors, nutritionists, and the public at a time of increasing awareness of the part played by diet in health. Dietary fibre had been considered previously to be an inert component of plant foods; because it was not digestible by human intestinal enzymes it was thought to have no importan...

Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to predict the chemical composition, apparent digestibility and digestible nutrients and energy content of commercial extruded compound foods for dogs. Fifty-six foods of known chemical composition and in vivo apparent digestibility were analysed overall and 51 foods were used to predict gross energy digestibility and digestible energy cont...

The aim of this review is to provide an overview the complex interactions between dietary fibre and resident microbial community in human gut. microbiota influences both health maintenance disease development. In large intestine, plays a crucial role degradation carbohydrates that remain undigested upper gut (non-digestible or fibre). Dietary contains variety different types carbohydrates, its ...

Tree leaf meals (TLM) are increasingly used in the tropics to feed pigs. The nutritive value of the TLM of cocoyam (Xanthosoma saggitifolium), mulberry ( Morus alba) and Trichanthera gigantea, their effect on the digestive tract and their fermentation rate in the large intestine, were determined in adult sows given diets containing 150 or 300 g TLM per kg. The TLM contained from 8·5 to 12·0 MJ ...

In the present study we have developed the agar-fill method for the measurement of gastrointestinal-tract capacity (GTC) to replace the in vitro water-fill method. This would estimate GTC without using complex equipment and techniques, and can be applied to the measurement of GTC for small laboratory animals. We attempted to confirm the efficiency of the agar-fill method by investigating the re...