The Relation of the Grass Juice Factor to Guinea Pig Nutrition1
Five Figures
G. O. Kohler,
C. A. Elvehjem and
E. B. Hart
Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison
1. Winter milk supplemented with iron, copper, and manganeseis an inadequate diet for young guinea pigs. In contrast torats, which grow slowly on mineralized winter milk, guinea pigsdie on such a diet.
2. Orange juice, brewers' yeast, and liverextract produce littleor no beneficial effect when fed as supplementsto this diet.
3. Various grasses contain a factor (or factors)which is essentialfor maintenance and growth of guinea pigs.Small supplementsof such grasses enable guinea pigs on a mineralizedwinter milkdiet to grow normally.
4. The active principleof grasses is soluble in the plant juicessince centrifugedgrass press juice is active.
5. The activity of grasses disappearsupon storage at room temperature.It is fairly stable at lowertemperatures. It is destroyed toa large extent by autoclaving.
6. From experience with the guinea pig it is probable thatthisspecies can be used to good advantage in further studiesonthe grass juice factor.
1 Published with the permission of the director of the WisconsinAgricultural Experiment Station.