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The estimation of the metabolizable energy of forage from its cell-wall content and digestible cell wall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

K. W. Moir
Affiliation:
Animal Research Institute, Department of Primary Industries, Yeerongpilly, Brisbane, Australia

Summary

Published data are used in support of a hypothesis that equal amounts of digestible cell walls and digestible non-cell walls do not contribute equally to the energy value of forages. The relationship between the concentration in the organic matter of metabolizable energy (kcal/g organic matter) determined at the maintenance level of feeding, and the percentages of cell wall and digestible cell wall in the forage organic matter is defined by:

This equation derived from published data on 12 grasses appears to be applicable to both grasses and legumes.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

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References

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