METHODS: Two physical treatments, namely extrusion (using temperature profiles of 90°C/100°C/100°C, 90°C/100°C/110°C, and 90°C/100°C/120°C) and sieving (to 8 particles sizes ranging from >8.00 to 0.15 mm) were carried out to determine their effects on chemical properties, primarily crude protein (CP) and fiber contents of PKC. Based on the results from the above study, PKC that extruded with temperature profile 90/100/110°C and of sieved size between 1.5 to 0.15 mm (which made up of near 60% of total samples) were used to determine treatments effect on AME and CP and amino acid digestibility. The second stage experiment was conducted using 64 male Cobb 500 chickens randomly assigned to 16 cages (4 cages [or replicates] per treatment) to the following four dietary groups: i) basal (control) diet, ii) basal diet containing 20% untreated PKC, iii) basal diet containing 20% extruded PKC (EPKC), and iv) basal diet containing 20% sieved PKC (SPKC).
RESULTS: Extrusion and sieving had no effect on CP and ash contents of PKC, however, both treatments reduced (p<0.05) crude fiber by 21% and 19%, respectively. Overall, extrusion and sieving reduced content of most of the amino acids except for aspartate, glutamate, alanine and lysine which increased, while serine, cysteine and tryptophan remained unchanged. Extrusion resulted in 6% increase (p<0.05) in AME and enhanced CP digestibility (p<0.05) by 32%, as compared to the untreated PKC while sieving had no effect on AME but improved CP digestibility by 39% which was not significantly different from that by extrusion.
CONCLUSION: Extrusion is more effective than sieving and serves as a practical method to enhance AME and digestibility of CP and several amino acids in broiler chickens.
RESULTS: The most abundant monosaccharide in the carbohydrate composition of durian seed gum were galactose (48.6-59.9%), glucose (37.1-45.1%), arabinose (0.58-3.41%), and xylose (0.3-3.21%). The predominant fatty acid of the lipid fraction from the durian seed gum were palmitic acid (C16:0), palmitoleic acid (C16:1), stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), and linolenic acid (C18:2). The most abundant amino acids of durian seed gum were: leucine (30.9-37.3%), lysine (6.04-8.36%), aspartic acid (6.10-7.19%), glycine (6.07-7.42%), alanine (5.24-6.14%), glutamic acid (5.57-7.09%), valine (4.5-5.50%), proline (3.87-4.81%), serine (4.39-5.18%), threonine (3.44-6.50%), isoleucine (3.30-4.07%), and phenylalanine (3.11-9.04%).
CONCLUSION: The presence of essential amino acids in the chemical structure of durian seed gum reinforces its nutritional value.
METHODS: 1H-MRS utilising the Single-Voxel Spectroscopy (SVS) technique was performed using a 3.0Tesla MRI on 45 optic radiations (15 from healthy subjects, 15 from mild glaucoma patients, and 15 from severe glaucoma patients). A standardised Volume of Interest (VOI) of 20 × 20 × 20 mm was placed in the region of optic radiation. Mild and severe glaucoma patients were categorised based on the Hodapp-Parrish-Anderson (HPA) classification. Mean and multiple group comparisons for metabolite concentration and metabolite concentration ratio between glaucoma grades and healthy subjects were obtained using one-way ANOVA.
RESULTS: The metabolite concentration and metabolite concentration ratio between the optic radiations of glaucoma patients and healthy subjects did not demonstrate any significant difference (p > 0.05).
CONCLUSION: Our findings show no significant alteration of metabolite concentration associated with neurodegeneration that could be measured by single-voxel 1H-MRS in optic radiation among glaucoma patients.
KEY POINTS: • Glaucoma disease has a neurodegenerative component. • Metabolite changes have been observed in the neurodegenerative process in the brain. • Using SVS, no metabolite changes in optic radiation were attributed to glaucoma.