Author
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Reeves Iii, James |
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Submitted to: Analytical Pyrolysis Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 9/30/1996 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Forages and by-products, such as stovers and hulls, are important materials for the feeding of ruminants, such as sheep and cattle. As such, considerable effort is expended on the determination of their composition. Unfortunately, most of the procedures used to date are empirical in nature and make such determinations difficult at best. Pyrolysis/gas/chromatography/mass/spectrometry (PY/GC/MS), on the other hand, is simple to carry out and generates no wastes, while being capable of simultaneously providing information on the composition of many or all the constituents in the material in question. Research has demonstrated that PY/GC/MS can provide detailed information on the composition of lignin, tannins and the carbohydrate fractions of forages and by-products. The information provided has been shown to be useful in determining the basis for wet chemical procedures (i.e., what exactly does a procedure for lignin content determine), in differentiating subtle differences in composition between varieties of the same plant species, and in comparing the overall composition of one material to another. PY/GC/MS is extremely useful for the study of lignin and carbohydrates, but, at present, is less useful for the study of proteins. While results have shown that the determination of nitrogen containing materials by PY/GC/MS is not a problem per se, for proteins, in particular, relatively few markers and in relatively low yields are reported as compared to lignin and carbohydrates. Finally, it is believed that PY/GC/MS can be a tremendous tool for the determination of forage and by-product composition which has until now been largely ignored by animal nutritionists and forage researchers. |
