Abstract
Fermentable energy in insoluble dietary fibre (DF) sources was evaluated by in vivo and in vitro methods using rats. Test diets contained 50 and 100 g maize husk or organic-acid-treated maize husk/kg diet. Soluble fractions were removed from both the DF sources by washing. The acid treatment increased digestibility by a microbial hemicellulase from 12.7% to 32.6%. The fermentability of DF was evaluated by measurement of the production rate of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in a short-term in vitro incubation of the caecal contents of rats fed on test diets for 22 d. The production rates of the major SCFA, acetic, propionic and butyric acids, were increased by feeding both DF sources, and these production rates in the acid-treated DF group were significantly higher than those in the untreated DF group. The production rate of a minor SCFA, isovaleric acid, was decreased by feeding both diets. The production rate of total SCFA in rats given the acid-treated maize husk was 32.6% higher than that in rats given the untreated maize husk. The fermentable energy in DF was estimated in vivo by subtracting the faecal excretion of DF energy from ingested DF energy. The fermentable energy in DF was increased by the acid treatment (32.5% in maize husk and 63.4% in acid-treated maize husk), which agreed with the SCFA production rate predicted in the caecum. These results indicate that a short-term incubation of caecal contents is a useful method for evaluation of the fermentability of DF sources, and that acid treatment can increase the fermentability of an insoluble DF source.
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