Near-Infrared Spectroscopy As Applied to Starch Analysis of Digestive Contents

The digestibility of starch, which is an important and common source of energy for animals and humans, is widely studied in nutrition research. Starch content is determined either in intestinal or in fecal samples. However, the biochemical methods used to quantify starch in digesta are time consuming and destructive. A rapid and nondestructive method, based on near-infrared spectroscopy, was developed to measure the level of starch in the jejunal digesta of cannulated pigs. Samples were chemically analyzed to assess a prediction equation by applying a principal component regression. The equation was proved to be reliable and allowed the quantification of native and pregelatinized starch in the digestive residues. Near-infrared spectroscopy appears to be a simple and promising technique for nutritional studies, capable of providing a range of information of nutritional value.