A simple enzyme assay for dry matter digestibility and its value in studying food selection by generalist herbivores |
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| Authors: | Gillian M. Choo Peter G. Waterman Doyle B. McKey J. Stephen Gartlan |
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| Affiliation: | (1) Phytochemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Strathclyde, G1 1XW Glasgow, Scotland, UK;(2) Primate Ecology Unit, Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin, 53706 Madison, WI, USA |
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| Abstract: | Summary The dry matter digestibility of 94 species of leaf was assayed by a simple method involving sequential treatment with pepsin and fungal cellulase enzymes. It was demonstrated that for foliage from rainforest trees of a wide range of dicotyledonous plant families the assay showed high positive correlation with estimates of dry matter digestibility obtained using rumenliquor from a fistulated steer. Both assays were found to reflect negative correlates of digestibility, notably fibre and condensed tannin, rather than the nutritional value of an item. The higher dry matter digestibility of immature leaves relative to mature leaves appeared to be accounted for by their lower fibre content. It is suggested that the pepsin/cellulase assay offers a cheap, quick, routine method of gaining information on the effects of some types of plant secondary compounds (digestibility reducers) on the  food potential of different kinds of foliage to herbivores. Its use in studies of herbivory in rainforest areas in relation to analyses for plant secondary compounds and food selection by herbivores is discussed.Publication 20-018 of the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center |
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