Abstract
Two Rhesus monkeys were fed only on raw potatoes for one week and the feces were recovered in the last 3 days. The apparent digestibility of raw starch by the two monkeys was 71.5 and 94.7%, respectively. These values are much higher than those obtained by rats, cocks and carp as reported in the previous literatures . The starch granules excreted in the feces were recovered and some of their properties were compared with those of native potato starch granules. The intrinsic viscosity was 92 .7% of the native starch. Photopastegrams showed that the temperature of starting clarification was 2° higher and its rate was lower than those of the native starch . The recovered starch was solubilized by 2.3% with pancreatin, while the native starch by 12 .0% under the same conditions. The blue value and the iodine affinity of the recovered starch were higher, and the λ max of the iodine color reaction was shifted to a longer wavelength, than the corresponding values of the native starch. Observation through a scanning electron micrograph of the recovered starch granules suggested that some microorganisms (probably bacilli) play an important role, in addition to the pancreatic α-amylase, in the digestion of raw potato starch by monkeys.
