Studies on Brassica carinata Seed. 2. Carbohydrate Molecular Structure in Relation to Carbohydrate Chemical Profile, Energy Values, and Biodegradation Characteristics

The objectives of this study were to investigate (1) the carbohydrate chemical profile, (2) the energy values, (3) the rumen neutral detergent fiber (NDF) degradation kinetics, (4) the carbohydrate-related functional group structural features using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic technique with attenuated total reflectance (ATR), and (5) the correlations between carbohydrate intrinsic structural features and nutritional profiles in three strains of Brassica carinata in yellow and brown seed coats, with comparison to canola seed as a reference. The results showed that yellow B. carinata strains 111000EM and AAC A100 were lower for contents of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), and carbohydrate (CHO) and higher for contents of total digestible nutrients (TDN), energy values, and effective degradable NDF (EDNDF) than brown-seeded 110915EM. In comparison, brown canola seed (Brassica napus L.) had more fiber content and less EDNDF. Also, carinata strains showed significantly different IR intensities in structural carbohydrate (SCHO), cellulosic compounds (CELC), and total CHO profiles. These structural variations might be one of the possible reasons for various fiber profile and biodegradation characteristics for ruminants in oilseeds. However, multivariate analyses within carbohydrate regions indicated there were still some structural relationships among the four oilseed samples. Moreover, the correlation study showed that the changes of CELC and CHO peak intensities were highly related with some changes in CHO chemical profile, energy values, and in situ NDF degradation kinetics in B. carinata and canola seeds. Further study with a large sample size is still necessary to figure out whether CHO molecular spectral information could be used to predict nutrient values and biological behavior in oilseeds.