Abstract
Estimates of starch contents in whole crop rice silage and cattle feces were obtained using enzymatic analysis and the conventionally used perchlorate-glucose oxidase method. They were then compared to determine the simpler estimation method. Results for starch content by enzymatic analysis were not always the same as those by the conventional method. However, the regression equations of y=0.34+0.97x(r^2=0.997) for whole crop rice silage and y=-0.55+1.49x(r^2=0.996) for feces were significant (P<0.01) where y and x indicated starch content by the conventional method and that by the enzymatic analysis. Digestibility of starch calculated using the starch content in diet and feces by enzymatic analysis was not significantly different from that by the conventional method in either lactating dairy cows or steers. These results indicate that enzymatic analysis using the above regression equations is applicable to determine starch content of whole crop rice silage and starch digestibility in cattle fed whole crop rice silage.
