Expert: Karin - 11/26/2011

Question
hi

I was wondering of you could help me out with the following;

I know that cattle can't produce the enzyme salivary amylase  which helps  breakdown starch  into maltose but can cattle still digest starch  if so how .

thanks

Answer
Hi Annie,

Yes, cattle still can digest starch.  And actually, according to several articles I have read through, cattle actually can produce salivary amylase.   Why do you think they are able to chew cud like they do?  It's not just for mechanical break-down of partly digested matter, but also to aid in the digestion of starch and lipids. However, 50 to 65% of the starch that cattle consume from the variety of forages and feedstuffs fed to them are digested in the rumen.  Amylase is also secreted from the pancreas to the small intestine, which further aids in starch digestion in ruminant animals like cattle.

The article below explains it very well for you:
http://www.thecattlesite.com/articles/2095/understanding-the-ruminant-animals-di

Which comes from this article:
http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2503.pdf

It would also do well to check out this scientific article too if you are doubting what I have said above:

http://ir.library.tohoku.ac.jp/re/bitstream/10097/50417/1/AA12005506-2011-8-114.

-Karin