THE UTILIZATION OF MALTOSE BY NEWBORN PIGS

Abstract

Various attempts have been made by using amylases to improve the digestion of starch by suckling pigs (Lewis et al., 1956; Cunningham and Brisson, 1957) but it is not known whether the pig possesses sufficient maltase to hydrolyze the maltose as rapidly as it is released by the amylases. Bailey et al. 1956 estimated the maltase secreting power of the baby pig from assays of extracts of ground intestines. They reported that the potential ability of baby pigs to hydrolyze maltose rose rapidly from zero at birth to 2 gm. per kg. of body weight per hour at 1 week of age. It is well known that extracts of tissues do not always indicate the actual enzyme potential of a secretory tissue. For this reason, digestion trial and intestinal loop techniques were employed in the present work to determine the rate of maltose digestion by newborn pigs.