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The effect of replacing nonstructural carbohydrates with soybean oil on the digestibility of fibre in trotting horses.
Abstract: The hypothesis tested was that the intake of extra fat at the expense of an isoenergetic amount of nonstructural carbohydrates reduces fibre utilisation in horses. In a crossover trial with feeding periods of 42 days each, 6 mature trotting horses (age 4-12 years, bodyweight 340-476 kg) were given either a control or test diet. The test concentrate was formulated to contain 37% of net energy in the form of soybean oil. The control concentrate contained an isoenergetic amount of corn starch plus glucose. The concentrates were fed in combination with the same amount of hay so that the control and test diet contained 25.13 and 86.66 g crude fat/kg dry matter, respectively. Apart from the amounts of fat and nonstructural carbohydrates, the 2 diets were identical. The test diet reduced the apparent total tract digestibilities of crude fibre, neutral and acid detergent fibre by 8.0 (P = 0.007), 6.2 (P = 0.022) and 8.3 (P = 0.0005) percentage units, respectively. It is suggested that a high fat intake by horses may increase the amount of fat entering the large intestine to levels that depress fermentation by cellulolytic bacteria. The observed interaction between fat content of the diet and fibre utilisation may have consequences for practical horse feeding in that calculating the energy content of test diets on the basis of feedstuff tables leads to overestimating the amount of energy provided by the high-fibre ingredients of the diets.
Publication Date: 2000-02-08 PubMed ID: 10661381DOI: 10.2746/042516400777612008Google Scholar: Lookup The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Journal Article
Summary
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The study investigates the effect of replacing nonstructural carbohydrates with soybean oil on the digestibility of fibre in horses, suggesting that a high-fat diet may reduce fibre utilisation and disrupt the function of fibre-breaking bacteria in the equine gut.
Research Approach
- The study was designed as a crossover trial, with feeding periods lasting 42 days each. This trial entailed feeding two alternative diets (a test diet and a control diet) to a group of six mature trotting horses aged between 4 and 12 years old.
- The test diet consisted of soybean oil, making up 37% of the net energy. Conversely, the control diet contained an equal energy portion of corn starch plus glucose. Their goal was to see if feeding extra fat instead of an equivalent energy amount of nonstructural carbohydrates would impact fibre digestion in the horses.
- Both diets were supplemented with identical amounts of hay, resulting in two diets with different fat levels but otherwise similar. Respective crude fat amounts were 25.13 g and 86.66 g per kilogram of dry matter.
Findings
- The results showed that the test diet led to a reduction in the apparent total tract digestibilities of crude fibre, neutral detergent fibre, and acid detergent fibre. These changes were significant with P-values suggesting a less than 5% chance that these results could have occurred by chance alone.
- These findings imply that a high fat intake in horses may increase the amount of fat reaching the large intestine to a degree which could potentially inhibit the fermentation process conducted by cellulolytic bacteria, microorganisms responsible for breaking down fibrous material in the equine digestive tract.
Implications
- This interaction between dietary fat content and fibre utilisation has potential consequences for practical horse feeding.
- The practice of calculating the energy content of trial diets based on feedstuff tables may lead to an overestimation of the energy provided by high-fibre ingredients within the diets.
- Therefore, a balance may need to be struck between fat intake and the requirements for an efficient fibre digestion when evaluating horse’s feeding regime.
Cite This Article
APA
Jansen WL, van der Kuilen J, Geelen SN, Beynen AC.
(2000).
The effect of replacing nonstructural carbohydrates with soybean oil on the digestibility of fibre in trotting horses.
Equine Vet J, 32(1), 27-30.
https://doi.org/10.2746/042516400777612008 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Large Animal Medicine and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
MeSH Terms
- Animal Feed
- Animals
- Cross-Over Studies
- Dietary Fats / administration & dosage
- Dietary Fats / metabolism
- Dietary Fiber / metabolism
- Digestion
- Feces / chemistry
- Female
- Glucose / metabolism
- Horses / metabolism
- Horses / physiology
- Male
- Nitrogen / analysis
- Random Allocation
- Soybean Oil / administration & dosage
- Soybean Oil / metabolism
- Zea mays / metabolism
Citations
This article has been cited 2 times.- Potter SJ, Bamford NJ, Baskerville CL, Harris PA, Bailey SR. Comparison of Feed Digestibility between Ponies, Standardbreds and Andalusian Horses Fed Three Different Diets. Vet Sci 2021 Dec 31;9(1).
- Thomson CA, LeWinn K, Newton TR, Alberts DS, Martinez ME. Nutrition and diet in the development of gastrointestinal cancer. Curr Oncol Rep 2003 May;5(3):192-202.
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