Bloat in cattle

Summary Cell‐free extracts have been prepared from virtually pure cultures of Epidinium ecaudatum Crawley, a protozoon which may be abundant in the rumen of cows feeding on red clover. Water extracts contain an amylase while phosphate buffer extracts contain the same amylase together with a less soluble maltase and occasionally a cellobiase. Invertase and β‐glucosidase were absent from the extracts which were also unable to hydrolyse lactose, melibiose, α‐trehalose and cellulose. The amylase has been shown to be an α‐amylase with optimum activity in the pH range 5.3–6.5 and in the temperature range 37°–45°c. The final products of the action of the amylase on starch are maltose (major component) and glucose and maltotriose (minor components). Intact clover‐starch granules were apparently hydrolysed by the amylase but potato‐starch granules were not attacked.