A spectrophotometric procedure was developed using ashing at 450 °C followed by acid digestion in beakers and reading the diluted digests at 440 nm. Errors were minimized by use of blanks and maintenance of a constant acid concentration in the diluted digests.

Daily outputs of mucin in ileal digesta were estimated in three barrows fed a protein-free diet while administered either saline (SAI) or a complete amino acid mixture (AAI) intravenously. The water soluble-ethanol precipitable fraction of ileal digesta (crude mucin; CM) was used to estimate the composition of mucin in ileal digesta. This fraction exhibited a carbohydrate composition characteristic of mucin and had a high threonine, serine and proline content (40 mol/100 mol). The proportions of soluble gastric and intestinal mucins, approximately 27 and 73%, respectively, were estimated from the N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc)/N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) ratio in CM. The daily outputs of soluble mucin, 2.75 and 3.41 g/day from SAI and AAI pigs (p = 0.13), respectively, were determined from the GalNAc outputs in CM, assuming the above contributions of gastric and intestinal mucins. The estimated soluble mucin outputs accounted for more than 99% of the fucose, galactose, GalNAc and GlcNAc in CM. Total mucin outputs in ileal digesta, 5.32 and 5.65 g/day from SAI and AAI Pigs (p = 0.24), respectively, were determined from the total GalNAc output in digesta, assuming soluble and insoluble mucin had similar compositions. Based on these outputs, mucin represented approximately 30, 7 to 22, 15 and 11% of the endogenous threonine, proline, serine and protein, respectively, in ileal digesta. Approximately 74, 76, 100 and 53% of the fucose, galactose GalNAc and GlcNAc, respectively, in ileal digesta from pigs in this study was attributed to mucin. The results from this study demonstrate the importance of mucin as a source of some endogenous amino acids and carbohydrates.

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A gas chromatographic procedure for measuring water in fermented feeds was developed and evaluated. The method involves extracting the water with alcohol followed by the separation of the water and alcohol with a Porapak QS column in a gas chromatograph equipped with a thermal conductivity detector. Linear responses were obtained when the ratios of the peak area of water to alcohol were plotted against the weight ratios of water to alcohol (mg/g). The method has the advantage of being very fast, and is as accurate as a chemical method used for water determination.