Analytical procedures for chemical analysis of carbohydrates by measuring reducing power before and after hydrolysis, have been automated once the carbohydrates have been removed from the plant tissue. Sugars and fructosans were removed from forage tissue by hot water treatment. Reducing sugars in an aliquot were assayed by automated procedures without acid hydrolysis. Total water‐soluble carbohydrates were measured with automated acid hydrolysis of the same aliquot. Nonreducing carbohydrates were calculated as the difference between total water‐soluble carbohydrates and reducing sugars. Sucrose and fructosan were completely hydrolyzed during the 2 min. exposure to 0.2 N acid at 95 C that were the conditions in automated hydrolysis. However, starch, if present in the water solution, was not broken down by the automated hydrolysis procedure due to low acid concentration and short duration of exposure to heat. Automated procedures increased lab efficiency, reduced routine errors, and eliminated filtration, pipetting, and manual dilution often required by most procedures.
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Wolf et al. (1975) studied this question.