Application of microscopy methods for evaluation of feed digestibility
The results of applying microscopic methods of analysis of pig feces to assess the digestibility of feed and diagnose various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract have been presented in the article. The microscopic method allows you to identify detritus, undigested fi ber, raw fat, fragments of animal feed ingredients, starch in the feces, gives an idea of the presence of foreign impurities (due to perverted appetite, contamination of feed), helminths, their eggs and other intestinal parasites. A number of preparations have been prepared to identify feed nutrients and feed components of the diet, and a number of coloring reagents were also used: Lugol’s solution for recognizing starch and its cleavage products (amylodextrin and erythrodextrin), Saathof’s reagent for detecting fat, and Hecht’s reagent for diff erentiating fat elements. The researches have been carried out under various magnifi cations of the microscope. Diff erent levels of detritus and undigested elements of feed in animals under the same conditions of rearing and feeding can identify individual features of digestion. The microscopic method of analysis does not require expensive equipment, reagents, and allows you to get the results of assessing the digestibility much faster than the methods of classical “wet” chemistry. This research method can be used by nutritionists to correct diets when using exogenous feed enzymes: phytase, xylanase, gluconase, amylase, mannanase, lipase, protease, etc., and provide results for discussion about the presence or absence of matrix eff ects from their use. The results of feces microscopy can give then idea of the quality of feed ingredients used: the content of non-starchy polysaccharides and the level of grain viscosity, the quality of animal ingredients (meat-bone, feather, fi sh meal), the level of indigestible fi ber in sunfl ower and soybean meals.