2007 Volume 60 Issue 2 Pages 131-133
The appearance of betaine in duodenal digesta was investigated using four steers with cannula in the duodenum. At 6 a.m., each steer was administered orally with doses of 0, 10, 25, or 50g of the betaine dissolved in 200ml of distilled water. One hundred ml of duodenal digesta were collected at 0, 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24h after dosing. Betaine concentrations in duodenal digesta were measured by HPLC. Betaine was detected at 9h after dosing with 10, 25, and 50g of betaine, and the concentrations in each treatment were 0.19mg/ml, 0.11mg/ml, and 0.54mg/ml, respectively. Betaine was also detected in the duodenal digesta at 12h after dosing with 25g of betaine. These in vivo data suggest that some of the betaine administered orally to the steers could escape ruminal degradation and flow into the duodenum.
