Non-Availability of Gum Acacia as a Glycogenic Foodstuff in the Rat

Monke, J. Victor

doi:10.3181/00379727-46-11928

Cited by 9 publications

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“…The gum of Acacia xanthophloea, eaten by baboons, vervets, and probably galagos, provides about 12.1 kJ/gm, which is as energy dense as the seeds of the Acacia itself (Altrnann, 1985). However, gums have generally been considered "undigestible" by mammals (Monke, 1941;Booth et al, 1949Booth et al, , 1963Hove and Herndon, 1957;Adrian 1976;Monte, 1981). Acacia gum and other commercially used plant gums from other plant families (e.g., gum ghatti, gum karaya) are all complex, branched, polysaccharides (Glicksman, 1969;Whistler and BeMiller, 1973;Davidson, 1980).…”

Section: Chemistry Of Gums Energy Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gums are water soluble, highly polymerized, nonstructural, complex polysaccharides exuded by some plant species in response to breakage and wood-boring insect damage (Glicksman, 1969;Bearder and Martin, 1980;Anderson and Bell, 1974;Anderson and Pinto, 1980;Davidson, 1980). Although few direct tests of gum digestibility have been made, gums are often assumed to be relatively undigestible to most vertebrates (Monke, 1941;Booth et al, 1949Booth et al, , 1963Hove and Herndon, 1957). Latex is similar to gum, but contains resins, is less water soluble, and is low in proteins and reducing sugars.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Dietary, behavioral, and morphological aspects of gummivory in primates

Nash

1986

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

186

173

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Primates are usually classified as faunivores, frugivores, or folivores. Recent field studies have shown that plant exudates, mainly gums, are also a significant component of primate diets. Few other vertebrates consume gum. One group of primate gummivores, including the lemur Phuner, the galagine Euoticus, and especially the marmosets Cebuella and Cab lithrix, has dental adaptations allowing its members to gouge or scrape trees to stimulate the flow of gum. Members of this group also have modifications of the nails which facilitate the postural repertoire required to harvest gums on large-diameter trunks. A second group, including Galago spp., Perodicticus potto, tamarins (Saguinus spp.), baboons (Papio spp.), vervets (Cercopithecus aethiops), and patas (Erythrocebus patas), is less morphologically specialized. These primates eat gums exuded in response to insect and/or mechanical damage. Gums are complex polysaccharides which, like foliage, require fermentation for digestion. At least some gummivorous primates show intestinal specializations for fermentation. Gums may also be an important source of minerals, especially calcium. Like folivores, gum feeders have the capacity to avoid secondary compounds found in gum, such as tannins and phenols. Gums are found in small, discrete patches. Each gum site can generally accommodate only one individual at a time, but the site may be rapidly renewed. One tree may contain many gum sites. Consequently, the foraging and digestive challenges entailed by gummivory involve a unique combination of features shown by faunivory, frugivory, and folivory. Understanding the biological bases of gummivory will be of value in interpreting the anatomy and modeling the behavior of early primates.Gum is a relatively unusual dietary component among mammals (Eisenberg, 1981;, and the ability to use it may confer a competitive advantage. Recent ecological research has shown that exudates, primarily gums, are a major dietary component for a variety of primate species, including prosimians (Charles- Dominique, 1977;Bearder and Martin, 1980;Charles-Dominique and Petter, 1980), callitrichids (Coimbra-Filho and Mittermeier, 1977; Garber, 1984a,b), and some African cercopithecines (Hausfater and Bearce, 1976;Wrangham and Waterman, 1981; 01-son and Chism, 1984;Olson, 1985). Thus, gummivory apparently represents a n important dietary adaptation and may have behavioral, morphological, and physio-'A note on the spelling of "gummivory" and gummivore" is needed since the words appear in neither the current editions of Webster's International Dictionary nor the Oxford English Dictionary. There is confusion in the literature on primates; a variety of alternative spellings have appeared (e.g., "gumivory," "gumnivory," "guminivory"). The spelling used here is preferred since the Latin root of the word is "gummi" (meaning gum, a tree exudate) and by analogy to "gummiferous," which is found in both. 0 1986 Alan R. Liss, Inc.

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Section: Chemistry Of Gums Energy Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Dietary, behavioral, and morphological aspects of gummivory in primates

Nash

1986

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

186

173

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“…These animals have evolved morphological traits 52 and behavioural specializations to access and digest gums (Cabana et al, 2017a; Nash, 53 1986; Smith, 2010). P-linked polysaccharides, such as gums, require specific microbes for 54 fermentation (Booth and Henderson, 1963; Monke, 1941;Power and Myers, 2009). 55…”

Section: Introduction 40mentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical clingers and gougers: Rapid acquisition of adult limb proportions facilitates feeding behaviours in young Javan slow lorises ( Nycticebus javanicus )

Poindexter

Nekaris

2017

Mammalian Biology

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“…The amount of gum available to most animals can be limited, since trees generally secrete it only in response to damage and gum usually hardens fairly rapidly to seal the wound site (Nash 1986). Gum is comprised mainly of a b-linked complex polysaccharide (Monke 1941;Booth et al 1949;Booth and Henderson 1963;Hove and Herndon 1957); complex carbohydrates of this form (e.g., cellulose) require fermentation by gut microbes before the nutrients are available to animals that feed on it. In other words, gum is dietary fiber (Van Soest 1982;Kritchevsky 1988).…”

Section: Exudates As Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional and Digestive Challenges to Being a Gum-Feeding Primate

Power

2010

The Evolution of Exudativory in Primates

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Gum is an unusual food that presents significant challenges to animals that feed on it. Gum is limited in availability; trees generally secrete it only in response to damage. Gum is a b-linked complex polysaccharide, and as such is resistant to mammalian digestive enzymes and requires fermentation by gut microbes. It contains little or no lipid, low amounts of protein, and no appreciable levels of vitamins. As a food, gum can be characterized as difficult to obtain, potentially limited in quantity, difficult to digest, and primarily a source of energy and minerals. Despite these drawbacks, many primates feed extensively on gums. Among mammals, gum-feeding largely appears to be a primate dietary adaptation. Why are there so many primate gum-feeders and what adaptations have allowed them to make a living on such a problematic food? This is the central question of this book. This chapter examines digestive and nutritional aspects of gum. Specific examples of biological adaptations found in common and pygmy marmosets (Callithrix jacchus and Cebuella pygmaea), small New World primate gum-feeding specialists, will be examined. These marmoset species have many similarities in their behavior, morphology and metabolism, but also some instructive differences in their digestive function. C. pygmaea is the smallest of the marmosets but has the slowest passage rate of digesta. This might represent an adaptation to retain difficult-to-digest material, such as gum, within the gut to allow fermentation. In contrast, C. jacchus has a rapid passage rate. Passage rate in C. jacchus appears adapted more for rapidly excreting indigestible material (e.g., seeds) than for retaining gum within the gut to enable more complete digestion. Fruit is a rare component of C. pygmaea's diet; hence any constraint on feeding caused by filling the gut with ingested seeds is greatly relaxed, apparently enabling digestive kinetics that favor digestive efficiency over maximizing food intake. Interestingly, however, these marmosets share an ability to digest gum despite their differences in gum kinetics. In captivity both species have been shown to be more able to digest Acacia gum than related species that feed less often on gum in the wild.

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Non-Availability of Gum Acacia as a Glycogenic Foodstuff in the Rat

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Dietary, behavioral, and morphological aspects of gummivory in primates

Dietary, behavioral, and morphological aspects of gummivory in primates

Vertical clingers and gougers: Rapid acquisition of adult limb proportions facilitates feeding behaviours in young Javan slow lorises ( Nycticebus javanicus )

Nutritional and Digestive Challenges to Being a Gum-Feeding Primate

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