This review is to be submitted for publication in the Australian Journal of Agricultural Research. Secondly, we have established two parallel in vitro methods for measuring the rates of enzymic starch digestion and microbial fermentation. These two in vitro methods form the basis of studies to systematically define factors limiting starch digestion in the equine small intestine. The in vitro methods also allow an understanding of the rate of fermentation and extent of acid production when grains are first subjected to enzymic digestion and then exposed to hind gut bacteria. This work has shown higher enzymic digestion rates for oats compared to barley or sorghum.
Oats also produces higher rates of acid during bacterial fermentation.
Processing of the will be explored together with the effects of enzyme pre-treatment. To develop a definitive system for detection of indospicine residues in horsemeat that can be used under commercial conditions for confirmation and accurate quantitation of indospicine detected by the above screening test. To provide information on the mechanism of indospicine toxicity that can be used by the horsemeat industry to counteract threats to our export trade by countries importing horsemeat from Australia. Current Progress An HPLC method for detecting indospicine in biological samples has been developed that uses commercially available materials and equipment. A technique for extracting indospicine from meat has also been developed that allows reliable quantitative detection of indospicine in meat samples down to 5 ppm with HPLC, although semiquantitative estimation down to approximately 1 ppm is possible.