Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
NSP
Soluble-NSP
Insoluble-NSP
Intestinal
viscosity
Endogenous
losses
Encapsulate
nutrients
Nutrient
dilution
Metabolic
cost
Digestion
efficiency
Nutrient
digestion
Mucosal thickness
and gut size
Changes in intestinal
microbial population
Mixing digestive
enzymes with nutrient
Nutrient absorption
Intestinal health
status
Nutrient
digestion
Figure 1. Proposed modes of action of wheat NSP in poultry.
The second mechanism relates to the viscous nature of digesta caused by the soluble NSP
fraction. The degree of viscosity depends on the solubility of the NSP which in turn depends
on the size of the molecule, whether it is branched or linear, the presence of charged groups,
the surrounding structure and the concentration of the NSP. The effects of high intestinal
digesta viscosity include (Smits and Annison, 1996; Choct, 1997; Bedford and Schulze, 1998)
(1) reduction in passage rate; (2) reduced mixing of digestive enzymes with substrate
nutrients; (3) increased secretion of endogenous enzymes and modification of the endogenous
secretion of water, proteins, electrolytes and lipids which may increase the endogenous
losses; (4) increased secretory response of mucus, which may increase the resistance for
transport of nutrients through the unstirred water layer adjacent to the epithelial surface by
increasing mucus layer thickness; and (5) interaction with gut microflora (Smits and Annison,
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