Project Number: 1932-21630-004-02
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 01, 2006
End Date: Aug 31, 2009

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to expand the current database concerning herbage carbohydrate (CHO) and protein digestion and interaction with other herbage and non-herbage CHO and protein sources.

Approach:
Herbage samples previously collected and those collected as part of ongoing research efforts will be utilized during the collaborative effort. Herbage will be chemically fractionated using discipline accepted laboratory procedures by nutritive category. A series of invitro and continuous culture experiments will be conducted to ascertain digestive kinetics of said fractions, fermentation end products and rumen microbial population variability attained from herbage fermentation. Based on this information, another series of invitro and continuous culture experiments will evaluate digestive interactions between herbage types and between herbage and non-herbage CHO and protein sources.