Topic:Maltose
Maltose is a disaccharide sugar composed of two glucose molecules linked by an α(1→4) bond. In horses, maltose is a product of starch digestion, primarily occurring in the small intestine. Enzymes such as amylase break down starch into maltose, which is further hydrolyzed by maltase into glucose for absorption and utilization as an energy source. The efficiency of maltose digestion and absorption can influence equine nutrition and metabolism. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the enzymatic processes involved in maltose digestion, its impact on equine nutrition, and its role in various physiological conditions in horses.
Use of oral tolerance tests to investigate disaccharide digestion in neonatal foals. Oral tolerance tests were performed on 13 neonatal foals to determine their ability to digest disaccharides on d 1, 3 and 5 postpartum. Foals were assigned randomly to treatments consisting of 20% (wt/vol) solutions of either maltose, lactose, or sucrose, dosed at 1 g/kg of BW, or glucose, dosed at .5 g/kg of BW. After a 2-h fast, an initial blood sample was collected via jugular catheter. Foals were administered the appropriate solution orally, and blood was collected every 15 min for 1 h and then every 30 min for 3 h. Plasma glucose increased after dosing with lactose or glucose but not with...
Carbohydrate digestion and absorption in the equine small intestine. Dietary carbohydrates, which constitute a most important source of equine nutrition, are digested and absorbed by a series of complex processes principally in the small intestine, beginning with intraluminal starch hydrolysis by the action of pancreatic amylase. The continuous secretion of a copious volume of pancreatic juice, low in enzyme activity, presumably releases sufficient oligosaccharides for further hydrolysis at the intestinal cell surface by brush border enzymes. Active carrier mediated mechanisms then transport the final hexose products across the intestinal cell for uptake in the...