Cellulose Solubility as an Estimate of Cellulose Digestibility and Nutritive Value of Grasses3

Abstract
A chemical method, based on the solubility of grass hay cellulose in cupriethylene diamine, has been developed to estimate the digestibility and nutritive value of grasses. Various steps in the procedure were studied at length, so that a standard method with fairly high precision was obtained. Values obtained by this cellulose solubility technique were correlated with in vitro cellulose digestion, in vivo cellulose, dry matter and energy digestion, Nutritive Value Index and relative intake. The correlations with all criteria, except relative intake, were highly significant. Relative intake and cellulose solubility were significantly correlated. Copyright © 1963. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1963 by American Society of Animal Science