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Influence of Molasses Lignin-Hemicellulose Fractions in Rat Nutrition1

George C. Fahey, James E. Williams and George A. McLaren

Division of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506

Previous reports have shown that fractionation of the non-sugar, non-dialyzable components of cane molasses yielded a fraction designated as a black phenolic-carbohydrate complex. Incorporation of 0.03% of this complex into diets fed weanling male rats significantly increased the growth rate above that of rats fed the basal diet alone. This study was conducted to determine the chemical nature and growth stimulating action of the black phenol-carbohydrate complex. Alkaline cleavage under nitrogen yielded a mixture of phenols and a carbohydrate fraction which was recovered by precipitation at pH 6 in four volumes of ethanol. The alkaline cleaved, free hemicellulose was non-dialyzable and stimulated growth when incorporated into rat diets at the 0.03% level. Acid hydrolysis of the complex yielded an insoluble product identified as lignin and found to represent 18% to 20% of the entire complex. The chemical nature of this lignin-hemicellulose fraction and the previously reported growth-enhancing acid resistant hemicellulose fraction isolated from various plant sources were found to be similar.

KEY WORDS: • molasses • lignin • hemicellulose • growth

1 Published with the approval of the Director of the West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station as Scientific Paper No. 1415.

Manuscript received 9 February 1976.




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