Abstract
In the present paper, an investigation was made to determine how much “konjac” mannan would be utilized as calorie for growth of rats.
Growing rats with body weight approximately 56.0g were divided into three groups. The diet compositions of three groups were shown in Table 1. The pair feeding method was used based upon the “konjac” powder group and pairing the rice starch group and agar powder group with it.
It was found that there was an apparently higher body weight gain in “konjac” powder group than in the agar powder group. It means that “konjac” powder is utilized as caloric source.
If we consider the following formula representing true growth of animals
(Final body weight-weight of digestive tract) -initial body weight the true body weight gain in each group is as follows: rice starch group 74.2g, “konjac” powder group 56.6g, and agar powder group 42.4g.
If we assume the body weight gain in agar powder group as zero and the body weight gain in rice starch group as 100, the body weight gain in “konjac” powder group in percentage of that in rice starch group would be 44. 7. This indicates that about 45% of carbohydrate in “konjac” powder is utilized for the true growth of rats.
