The effect of dietary starch on the digestion by sheep of cell wall monosaccharide residues in maize silage

Abstract

AbstractThe digestibility of individual cell wall monosaccharide residues from maize silage (MS) and from maize silage + concentrate (MS+con) diets, was examined in sheep equipped with rumen and duodenal cannulas. Dry matter digestibility was 73.8 and 86.6% in the MS and MS+con treatments, respectively. The overall digestibility of cell walls (CW) and CW monosaccharide residues was not depressed in the MS+con treatment. The values for total CW, CW glucose, CW uronic acid and for total xylose were 68.3, 77.0, 71.6 and 65.2 for MS and 69.4, 80.3, 75.3 and 63.7 for MS+con, respectively. However, the digestion of CW and CW monosaccharide residues in the rumen of the MS+con sheep was reduced and the contribution of the lower tract to the digestion of the potentially digestible CW‐sugar residues was in the range of 15 to 20%. Digestibility of the soluble uronic acid was adversely affected by the concentrate, its digestibility being reduced from 88.6% in the MS to 68.7% in the MS+con treatment. Based on compositional considerations, it is envisaged that the CW structural unit of the ensiled maize plant is made of cellulose fibres enveloped by a thin, poorly lignified and penetrable matrix. The degree of branching of the matrix polysaccharides is low compared with other forage plants. It is suggested that the above mentioned properties significantly contribute to the high quality of the ensiled maize plant.