Change of Functional Specific Gravity of Forages in Various Solutions

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Abstract
This research was to determine whether solutions in which ground hay samples were immersed affected rate of change of functional specific gravity of forages. Specific gravities for forage samples in ruminal fluid were higher than those in water at all 8 times of observation between 1-24 h. Two additional experiments were done to determine which fraction of ruminal fluid contributed to the accelerated change of specific gravity. Specific gravities of samples in solutions containing sialic acid or mucin protein from bovine submaxillary gland were not different from samples in water. Specific gravity increased more rapidly in McDougall''s solution without NaHCO3 than in water. This suggested that ionic composition and concentration were more important in affecting change of specific gravity than was mucin protein content. The effect of increased ionic concentration on specific gravity may have explained partially the increased turnover rate in animals fed supplemental buffers or NaCl.