NEW APPROACH TO WATER-SOLUBLE CARBOHYDRATE DETERMINATION AS A TOOL FOR EVALUATION OF PLANT-CELL WALL DEGRADING ENZYMES

Studies were conducted to develop a rapid method for the determination of total water-soluble carbohydrates in feedstuffs. Conditions requir ed to result in the satisfactory hydrolysis of plant carbohydrates usi ng HCl without substantial decomposition of constituent sugars were es tablished. The method was validated by recovery studies utilizing mixt ures of pure carbohydrates and by comparison of results with those det ermined by individual analysis of soluble polysaccharides in canola sa mples. In addition, the total water-soluble carbohydrate content of a number of different feedstuffs was determined, and the application of the method in the evaluation of the efficacy of various commercially a vailable carbohydrase-like enzyme preparations on the hydrolysis of ca nola meal cell wall polysaccharides was demonstrated.