Predicting N-alkane Concentration in Pastures and Deer Faeces for Dietary Composition and Digestibility Measurement Using Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Author(s)
Ru, Y J
Kruk, J A
Fischer, M
Choct, Mingan
Glatz, Phil
Publication Date
2002
Abstract
The alkanes in plant materials can potentially be used as markers to estimate composition and digestibility of diet of deer for the development of feeding strategies, but the analysis of alkanes in plant materials and deer faeces is time-consuming and expensive. In this study, 242 faecal samples and 119 pasture samples were scanned using near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and the concentrations of alkanes in these samples were analysed to develop calibrations for predicting alkane concentrations in pastures and deer faeces. The R² values for NIR calibrations were <0.6 for C₂₄, C₂₆, C₃₂ and C₃₆, but were >0.8 for other alkanes for faecal samples. The R² values were >0.87 for alkanes with chains from C₂₇ to C₃₅ for pasture samples. However, NIR was unable to predict concentrations of alkanes with chains of C₂₄, C₂₆, C₃₂ and C₃₆ in faecal samples and C₂₄, C₂₅, C₂₆ and C₃₆ in pasture samples. While the use of these NIR calibrations will accelerate the estimation of diet digestibility, dietary components and botanical composition of pastures, the influence of the type of pasture on NIR calibration will require further examination
Citation
Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 15(11), p. 1611-1616
ISSN
1976-5517
1011-2367
Link
Language
en
Publisher
Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies
Title
Predicting N-alkane Concentration in Pastures and Deer Faeces for Dietary Composition and Digestibility Measurement Using Near Infrared Spectroscopy
Type of document
Journal Article
Entity Type
Publication

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