Effect of dietary fiber concentration on apparent digestibility and digesta passage in non-human primates. I. Ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata variegata and V. v. rubra)

✍ Scribed by Mark S. Edwards; Duane E. Ullrey

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 32 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0733-3188
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2361(1999)18:6<529::aid-zoo7>3.0.co;2-d

✦ Synopsis

Two test diets with different fiber concentrations (15% acid detergent fiber [ADF], 30% ADF) were fed to five adult female ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata). Apparent digestibility (%) of dry matter (DM), gross energy (GE), and fiber components (neutral detergent fiber [NDF], ADF, hemicellulose [HC], and cellulose [C]) were measured. Rates of digesta transit (TT 1 ) and retention time (R GIT ) were assessed using acetate beads, Co-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and Crmordanted fiber. Apparent digestibilities (%) of components of the 15ADF and 30ADF diets, respectively, were 51.0 and 41.7 for DM, 47.0 and 39.7 for GE, and 20.4 and 20.7 for NDF. TT 1 was approximately 2.7 hours. R GIT was 3.8 hours. No differences in TT 1 or R GIT between dietary treatments or marker types were detected. Results of this study support anecdotal observations that Varecia variegata have a limited capacity to utilize plant cell wall constituents as a significant energy source, when compared with more folivorous prosimans. Zoo Biol 18:529-536, 1999.