Abstract
A series of experiments were conducted employing the jack bean protein, concanavalin-A, as an analytical reagent for carbohydrate determinations. Efforts were directed toward the development of procedures for the characterization and determination of the glycogen-like microbial carbohydrate fractions of bovine retriculorumen contents. Rumen digesta samples were obtained from steers consuming diets of different starch content. Chloral hydrate, acetic acid, and water were employed as carbohydrate extraction solvents and acetone or ethanol was used to precipitate the starch-like polysaccharides. The percipitates were recovered and water soluble preparations were reacted with concanavalin-A. concanavalin-A proved to react significantly with starch contrary to some earlier reports, however, to a lesser degree than with glycogen. The concanavalin-A precipitation of carbohydrate preparations from rumen digesta extracts was not a linear of carbohydrate concentration. Concanavalin-A precipitated increased percentages of the water soluble carbohydrate fraction of rumen digesta extracts as the assay aliquot increased. Therefore, it could not be used as a quantitative analytical reagent to characterize and quantify a carbohydrate fraction which could be attributed to rumen microorganisms. The results obtained employing concanavalin-A as an analytical reagent for carbohydrate determination indicated the presence of a carbohydrate fraction in rumen digesta samples that was different from plant starch..
Jones, Oscar Harvey (1971). Some quantitative aspects of intraruminal carbohydrate digestion. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -178452.